Pick the server by the Galaxies you remember, download its launcher, and you can be playing tonight, for free. For the 2003 sandbox with skill boxes and the Jedi grind, that is SWG Infinity. For the version that was live when Sony switched it off in 2011, SWG Legends. For the short-lived Combat Upgrade rules on top of the later content, SWG Restoration. None of the three needs a retail copy. SWGEmu, the original emulator project, still runs its own servers but requires the original discs.
Sony Online Entertainment closed Star Wars Galaxies in December 2011. The game outlived that because its players rebuilt the server side from scratch, and fifteen years on there is more than one version of it to choose from. That choice is the only hard part.
First, which Galaxies do you mean?
The game changed so much in its eight years that "Star Wars Galaxies" names three different games, and every fan server has picked one of them.
- Pre-Combat Upgrade (2003 to April 2005). The one people are nostalgic for: dozens of skill-box professions you mixed freely, a player-run economy and player cities, and a Jedi path you had to discover rather than pick.
- The Combat Upgrade (April 27, 2005). Combat levels, armour certifications and a new accuracy system. It lasted about seven months before the next overhaul replaced it, so most players never saw it settle.
- The New Game Enhancements (November 2005 to the 2011 shutdown). Nine fixed professions, Jedi available from character creation, and faster action combat. Infamous at launch, and also the version with the most content by the time the servers closed.
The servers, side by side
| Server | Era | Retail copy? | Install | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWG Infinity | Pre-CU | No | Launcher, about 8 to 10 GB | Windows 7 or newer, 64-bit only |
| SWG Legends | NGE | No | Launcher, about 12 GB installed | Windows 8.1 or newer; Wine, CrossOver or Parallels elsewhere |
| SWG Restoration | NGE content, Combat Upgrade rules | No | Installer plus launcher | Windows 10 or newer; Linux and Steam Deck setups documented, not supported |
| SWGEmu (Finalizer, Basilisk) | Pre-CU | Yes, original discs | Emulator launcher | Windows |
All four are free to play.
SWG Infinity: the pre-CU sandbox
Infinity runs the pre-Combat Upgrade game, which its site calls "the golden age of SWG," with the original skill-based progression and the unlockable Jedi system. Its launcher downloads everything, so you do not need the discs. It says it has "800+ weekly active players," which is its own figure; none of these servers publishes a number we can check against the others.
Infinity is also building space back in. It says its Jump to Lightspeed expansion has pilot professions and ship crafting live, with space combat planned for fall 2026.
Worth knowing before you pick it: Infinity is Windows only, and its own install page says compatibility layers cannot run it, so Mac, Linux and Steam Deck players should look at the next two.
SWG Legends: the game as it was when the lights went out
Legends runs the New Game Enhancements, the final live version of Galaxies, "with years of bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements and content expansions on top." If you played in 2006 or later, or you want to be a Jedi from the character screen instead of earning it over months, this is the one.
The setup is the simplest of the four: make a free forum account, which is also your game login, download the launcher, let it patch about 12GB, and play. The team recommends 15GB free. The client is Windows only, but Legends says Linux and macOS players run it through Wine, CrossOver or Parallels.
SWG Restoration: the Combat Upgrade, with the content that came after
Restoration is the unusual one. It runs the NGE game with its own fixes to bring professions and combat back in line with the April 2005 Combat Upgrade. In Restoration's words, that lets players experience NGE-era content such as Kashyyyk, Mustafar and the Heroic instances "for the first time using the Combat Upgrade combat and profession systems."
That makes it a version of Galaxies that never existed on live servers, which is either the appeal or the reason to skip it. Its new player guide is thorough and was updated in August 2026.
Install it into a fresh, empty folder. Restoration is explicit that you should not point its launcher at another server's installation. It supports Windows 10 and newer; its wiki documents Linux and Steam Deck setups that players have made work, without official support.
SWGEmu: the original project, if you still own the discs
SWGEmu is the emulator project that proved Galaxies could be rebuilt, and it still runs official pre-CU servers, Finalizer and Basilisk. It is the only option here that requires a set of the original game discs, and its rules say anyone using an unsupported client gets banned from its services. If your 2003 box is still in a closet, this is the most faithful way to use it.
Installing, whichever you pick
- Create an account on that server's website. On most of them it is also your in-game login.
- Download that server's own launcher or installer, from its own site. Do not take a client from anywhere else.
- Give it an empty folder. Each server needs its own installation, and mixing them breaks things.
- Let it patch, which is 8 to 12GB, then press Play and make a character.
Before you sink a hundred hours in
- These are unofficial. None is licensed. Restoration's own site states plainly that it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Daybreak Games, Lucasfilm, Electronic Arts or Disney, and the same is true of the rest. They exist on goodwill and donations, and any of them could close.
- All of them are free. Donations are optional. Anyone selling you access, a client download or an account is not one of these projects.
- Populations are self-reported. We cannot rank these servers by who is playing, because they do not publish comparable counts. Pick by era, not by a number on a website.
If you would rather play an official, supported Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic is free to start and had about 4,000 people on Steam alone when we last checked.
What we would pick
First time, or you miss 2003: Infinity, for the sandbox Galaxies is remembered for. You played after 2005, or you are on a Mac or Linux: Legends. You want a version of the game nobody got to play for long: Restoration. You still have the discs and want the original project: SWGEmu.
The details
- Era, install steps, download sizes and platform support for each server come from that server's own play and getting-started pages. Infinity's population figure and its space expansion timeline are its own claims.
- The Combat Upgrade date and Restoration's description of its ruleset come from Restoration's new player guide. SWGEmu's disc requirement comes from its own forum FAQ.
- We have not played on these servers this month. Anything that has changed since, we will correct here, visibly.