An Obscure Star Wars Video Game Just Became Extremely Valuable For A Wild Reason

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"Star Wars" has had a presence in the gaming world from very early on in the franchise's existence. Outside of the movies, many of the video games have offered some of the most cherished storytelling in a galaxy far, far away. But with all due respect, the 2002 game "Star Wars Racer Revenge" isn't exactly one of the most cherished titles in the history of this franchise when it comes to gaming. All the same, it's now incredibly valuable, albeit for a truly unexpected reason.

As reported by Polygon, copies of "Racer Revenge" are currently selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay. As of this writing, the cheapest copies are going for around $225, with many of them listed for north of $300. Why? What's driving up the price for the oft-forgotten sequel to "Episode I: Racer," one of the most beloved "Star Wars" games ever?

Recently, hackers discovered that physical disc copies of "Racer Revenge" hold the key to jailbreaking the PlayStation 5, something people have been trying to do since the console first hit the market in 2020. Jailbreaking a console which means the software on the PS5 is bypassed, which allows users to install their own software and leads to custom firmware, as well as emulation of games, in addition to other potential features that Sony would never include officially.

The catch is that "Racer Revenge" was only released physically for the PlayStation 4 by Limited Run Games back in 2019. As the name implies, Limited Run does limited releases of games for certain consoles. Once they sell out, that's it. They also did a classic "Jurassic Park" collection in 2023, for example, among many others. The game was originally released more than two decades ago and isn't a holy grail for collectors.

The physical disc is what holds the key to jailbreaking the PS5. While I can't claim to understand the specifics, running the PS4 disc version of the game on a PS5 apparently allows users to apply code into the system through its menus, which is why this relatively obscure game has suddenly become so valuable.

The PlayStation 2 version of the game won't cut it. It's also worth pointing out that those who simply want to play the game can do so with ease, as it's available though the PlayStation digital store for a mere $9.99. The price increase is purely a result of these jailbreaking efforts and scarcity of the key ingredient. It's a rather bizarre thing that nobody could have predicted.

If it were merely about playing the game, this wouldn't be much of a story. The "Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection" was released in 2024, allowing players to revisit the old "Battlefront" games, and "Knights of the Old Republic" is readily available on Steam, so a great many games from this franchise are playable through more reasonable means. This is a strange, one-off case.

For fans who merely want podracing action on a console, the good news is that we're getting that soon enough. In addition to the recently announced "Fate of the Old Republic" game, Lucasfilm also has "Star Wars: Galactic Racer" on deck for a 2026 release, which looks like a spiritual successor to the original N64 and PS2 era "Racer" games.

The vast majority of fans out there can leave the expensive copies of this game to the hackers. Its value is too specific to matter for most people who just want high-octane racing of the pod variety.