If you have no idea where to start, play Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. It has the best lightsaber combat in any modern Star Wars game, its PC version has been fixed since 2024, and it is $10.49 on Steam until September 28, 85 percent off its $69.99 list price. It is also included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass through EA Play. If you have time for both Jedi games, start with Jedi: Fallen Order, $7.99 in the same sale, because Survivor's story assumes you know the crew. If you only have time for one, Survivor is the better game.
The best Star Wars game ever made is still Knights of the Old Republic, and it costs $9.99. It is our pick for anyone who likes RPGs. It is not the default because it is a 2003 game and plays like one. If you already know what you like, the table goes straight to it, and each row links to the guide where we make the full case.
The quick pick
| If you want... | Play this | Price and platforms | Our guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| A story RPG | Knights of the Old Republic | $9.99 on Steam and GOG; also Switch, Xbox, phones | Is KOTOR worth it? |
| Lightsaber action | Jedi: Survivor (Fallen Order first) | $10.49 and $7.99 on Steam until Sep 28; PS5, Xbox; EA Play | Is Jedi: Survivor worth it? |
| Tactics or strategy | Zero Company | $49.99; PC, PS5, Xbox Series | Our review |
| Starfighters | TIE Fighter | $9.99 on GOG, not Steam | How to play TIE Fighter |
| A multiplayer shooter | Battlefront II (2017) | $9.99 on Steam until Sep 28; PlayStation, Xbox; EA Play | Is Battlefront II still active? |
| Something to play with your kids | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | $49.99 on Steam, under $25 on Switch; Game Pass | Every LEGO game ranked |
| An MMO to live in | The Old Republic | Free to start; PC only | SWTOR player count |
| Racing | Episode I Racer now, Galactic Racer from Oct 6 | $9.99; $59.99 | Galactic Racer: what is confirmed |
| An open-world scoundrel story | Star Wars Outlaws | $17.49 on Steam until Oct 1; Game Pass | Is Outlaws worth it? |
| Something new this year | Zero Company | $49.99 | Our review |
| The best game for ten dollars | Knights of the Old Republic | $9.99 | Best Star Wars games on Steam |
| Something for a Steam Deck | LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Deck Verified | Star Wars on Steam Deck |
| Something on Game Pass | Jedi: Survivor | Ultimate or PC Game Pass only | Star Wars on Game Pass |
The sale prices on this page end soon
Steam lists EA's discounts on Jedi: Survivor, Fallen Order, Battlefront II and Squadrons as ending September 28, and the Outlaws deal as ending October 1. After that, expect list prices until the next sale: $69.99 for Survivor and Outlaws, $39.99 for the other three.
A story RPG: Knights of the Old Republic
Play Knights of the Old Republic, $9.99 on Steam or GOG. It has the highest Metacritic score any Star Wars game has recorded, 94, a 40-hour campaign with a twist that still lands, and a few hundred people are still playing it on Steam most evenings, twenty-three years on. Install the KOTOR 1 Community Patch and a widescreen fix before you start; our KOTOR guide has both.
Or: the eight class stories in The Old Republic, which are fully voiced and free to play (more on that below). And once you finish KOTOR, KOTOR II is also $9.99 and better with the fan-made Restored Content Mod. Play them in order.
The one thing to know: buy it on PC. Its 2026 problems, a 4:3 picture, a tiny interface and bugs BioWare never patched, can be fixed there and nowhere else. Do not wait for the remake either: it still has no gameplay footage and no date, as our remake tracker lays out.
Lightsaber action: the Jedi games
Play Jedi: Survivor, $10.49 on Steam until September 28. Five lightsaber stances, the best saber combat in a modern Star Wars game, and a PC version that Patch 9 fixed in September 2024 after a launch that made it the year's cautionary tale. With Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass it costs nothing extra.
Or: Jedi: Fallen Order first, if you have played neither ($7.99 in the same sale). For older saber fights, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is $9.99, with a character creator and a multiplayer duel system nobody has bettered, and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, $5.99, is the 1997 game that worked out what a lightsaber should feel like in first person.
The one thing to know: never pay $69.99 for it. It drops to $20 to $30 in most sales, and it is lower than that right now. On Steam it also needs the EA app.
Tactics or strategy: Zero Company
Play Star Wars Zero Company, $49.99 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Clone Wars squad tactics from people who built modern XCOM, level with Jedi: Survivor as the best-reviewed Star Wars game since 2004, and our 9 out of 10. It costs more than almost anything else on this page, and it earns the price.
Or: Empire at War: Gold Pack, $19.99, for a galactic conquest map with real-time battles. Twenty years of total conversions are why it is still one of the most played Star Wars games on Steam; our mod guide picks one by era, and Star Wars games like XCOM covers the rest of the genre.
The one thing to know: Zero Company is turn-based, so if you want to run around shooting things, you want Battlefront. Start above Normal, where permadeath barely bites; our difficulty guide explains why. Patch 1.1 on September 9 fixed crashes and stutters. It is not on Game Pass or EA Play.
Starfighters: TIE Fighter
Play TIE Fighter, $9.99 on GOG. It is the best Star Wars space combat game ever made and second on our all-time list. Buy it on GOG because that version includes the 1995 CD build with full voice acting, and Steam's does not. Launch that build instead of the default and plug in a stick. Our TIE Fighter guide covers the setup and the free Total Conversion, which remakes it inside X-Wing Alliance.
Or: Squadrons, $3.99 on Steam until September 28. It has the best cockpit the franchise has built this century, it was made for VR headsets and flight sticks, and its campaign runs about four hours. Buy it for the campaign; online matches are slow to fill, with 45 to 85 players on Steam in our count, though crossplay makes the real queue bigger than that.
The one thing to know: the best console one, Rogue Leader, has never been re-released. The only way to play it is on a GameCube or a Wii. Every space combat game, ranked.
A multiplayer shooter: Battlefront II (2017)
Play Battlefront II, $9.99 on Steam until September 28, or on EA Play. It is the busiest Star Wars shooter on Steam, between 462 and 1,752 players at a time across the nine days we counted. The 68 it scored in 2017 was for the loot-box launch; EA pulled the pay-to-progress system, rebuilt progression and kept adding content until April 2020, and that finished version is what you buy now.
Or: Battlefront II (Classic, 2005), $9.99 on its own, for the space battles you can fly into and board. Buy it standalone and skip Aspyr's Battlefront Classic Collection, which sits at 24 percent positive on Steam.
The one thing to know: the 2017 game has no crossplay. PC, PlayStation and Xbox players never see each other, so buy it where your friends play.
Playing with your kids: LEGO Skywalker Saga
Play LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. It covers all nine films, it won our LEGO ranking on every measure, and two players can share one screen. It is $49.99 on Steam, but the Switch cartridge has been under $25 at most US retailers for a year, and it has been on Game Pass since December 2022.
Or: LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, $19.99 on Steam and GOG: the six prequel and original films in 36 levels, and the best twenty dollars in Star Wars gaming. Both are Steam Deck Verified.
The one thing to know: The Skywalker Saga has no character creator, and it has fewer, shorter levels per film than the older games. Skip The Force Awakens; it is the one the players liked least.
An MMO to live in: The Old Republic
Play Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is free to start. It is fifteen years old and busy: our count mostly runs between 2,200 and 6,400 players on Steam, depending on the hour, and Steam is only part of its audience. The eight class campaigns are the most underrated single-player writing in Star Wars, and its next expansion, Masters of the Force, is targeted for this holiday season.
Or: Star Wars Galaxies, which Sony shut down in 2011 and fans have kept running for free. SWG Legends is the game as it was when the servers closed; SWG Infinity is the 2003 sandbox people are nostalgic for. How to pick a server.
The one thing to know: our Steam figures are a floor, because nine years of players installed The Old Republic through BioWare's own launcher before it reached Steam. The population is more than enough for the group content you will meet in your first hundred hours.
Racing: Episode I Racer now, Galactic Racer on October 6
Galactic Racer is not out yet. Fuse Games' racer launches October 6 at $59.99 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, it has gone gold, and it comes from Criterion veterans, the Burnout studio. It has podracers, landspeeders, speeder bikes and skim speeders, a roguelike campaign and 12-player online tours. We would wait for reviews: the campaign lives or dies on run variety, and only three planets had been shown as of our pre-launch file. Everything confirmed so far.
Play now: Star Wars Episode I Racer, $9.99 on Steam and also on GOG, Switch, PS4 and Xbox. It sold 3.12 million copies, more than any other Star Wars game of the 1990s.
The one thing to know: neither Galactic Racer's Steam page nor its PlayStation Store listing shows split-screen, so for now plan on racing your family online rather than on the sofa. It has not been announced for Game Pass.
An open-world scoundrel story: Star Wars Outlaws
Play Star Wars Outlaws at $17.49, its Steam price until October 1. Kay Vess, a thief with a pet called Nix, plays four crime syndicates against each other across five worlds. The forced stealth that hurt it at launch was removed in November 2024, and the version you buy now is complete: seven title updates, both story packs, and, by every credible report, no sequel. It is also on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
The one thing to know: it is never worth the $69.99 list price, and it is the one game here we would not play on a Steam Deck; Valve rates it Unsupported for graphics performance. On a Switch 2 it ships as the Gold Edition with both packs included. When to buy it.
Something new this year: Zero Company
Play Zero Company, released August 27. It is the best new Star Wars game in years by the reviews, 85 on Metacritic, and by ours. Through its first three weeks it had more Steam players than every other Star Wars game combined.
Or: Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains, out since June 30 on PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch and Switch 2. Teams of two or three, 28 characters whose abilities bend the rules, and AI filling any empty seats. Buy it for family night.
The one thing to know: after Galactic Racer on October 6, no Star Wars game has a release date. Jedi 3 is confirmed and undated, and our read is 2027 at the earliest. Every upcoming Star Wars game.
Ten dollars, a Steam Deck, or Game Pass
You have ten dollars
Knights of the Old Republic, $9.99, is the best Star Wars game at any price. Until September 28, EA's Steam sale adds Fallen Order ($7.99), Battlefront II ($9.99), Squadrons ($3.99) and, 49 cents over budget, Jedi: Survivor ($10.49). Republic Commando ($9.99, 96 percent positive on Steam) is the best Star Wars game nobody talks about. The best Star Wars games on Steam has the full list with prices.
You play on a Steam Deck
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is Verified, and it looks better on the Deck's screen than most current releases look on a monitor. Knights of the Old Republic is rated Playable; fix the resolution once and forget it. Zero Company carries Valve's red Unsupported badge, but ProtonDB players rated it Platinum on 164 reports when we checked on September 4, so buy it with Steam's two-hour refund window in mind. All 43 Star Wars games on Steam Deck, rated.
You have Game Pass
You need Ultimate or PC Game Pass for most of it. Jedi: Survivor, Fallen Order, both modern Battlefronts and Squadrons come through EA Play, which the Essential and Premium tiers do not include; those two get you LEGO Skywalker Saga and Outlaws at most. On a PC, PC Game Pass at $13.99 is the best value, with all seven games. Zero Company is not on any tier. Every Star Wars game on Game Pass.
The details
- Prices are the US Steam store on September 18, 2026. Sale end dates are the countdowns Steam shows on each store page. GOG prices are from our KOTOR, TIE Fighter and LEGO guides.
- Player figures are our own Steam readings, taken every two hours; the dates and methods are on each linked page. Console players are not included, because nobody outside the publishers can count them.
- Game Pass tiers and the $13.99 PC Game Pass price are from our September 11 check. The catalog changes monthly.
- If none of these fit, the best Star Wars games ever made ranks fifteen across forty years, with scores, sales and who is still playing.