Star Wars Outlaws could be a sign of what's to come for Switch 2 third-party games, both good and bad

According to a Ubisoft employee on BlueSky, Star Wars Outlaws had to use a game key card for the Switch 2 because the engine relies on disk streaming, which the Switch 2 cartridge simply couldn’t handle. This conversation started on BlueSky because Outlaws launched for the Switch 2 earlier this week, and despite believable rumors that it would not run well, it might actually run even better than the Xbox Series S version, at least according to Digital Foundry. This is a double-edged sword, as it represents a huge step forward in terms of the Nintendo console running modern AAA games, but it also pushes the industry further away from physical releases.

Apparently, a Switch 2 cartridge would have kept Star Wars Outlaws from running so well

Especially in the last few decades, Nintendo has stood out from other console manufacturers by dominating the handheld space and introducing innovative features in its consoles. This has worked well for them at times, such as the Wii and the original Switch, not to mention every handheld device from the Game Boy to the 3DS. However, it has also resulted in a few flops, such as the Wii U, and has forced Nintendo to step away from the traditional third-party AAA space. Most third-party titles that launch on PlayStation can also launch on Xbox. That has not been the case for Nintendo for a long time. Most modern games have to wait years before they are ready for the smaller, less powerful hardware. The Switch 2 might be changing that.

Ultimately, though, this is why it was so believable that Star Wars Outlaws, a game that only launched about a year ago, would not run well on the new Nintendo console, and why everyone was so pleasantly surprised when it actually did. The Switch 2’s launch has been notorious for the introduction of “game key cards,” which essentially means that players can buy a Switch 2 cartridge, but the game isn’t actually on the disk. It just contains a key that activates the download. There is a vocal group of Nintendo fans against this practice, and it makes sense. In a world where it’s increasingly more difficult to actually own your games, hard copies felt like a somewhat secure part of the industry until now.

In response to a conversation about Outlaws being a game key card.Rob Bantin on BlueSky

According to Rob Bantin, an audio architect on Snowdrop, the engine created by Massive and Ubisoft, the game key card was a necessary choice to ensure Outlaws ran well on the console. From their post: “Snowdrop relies heavily on disk streaming for its open world environments, and we found the Switch 2 cards simply didn’t give the performance we needed at the quality target we were going for.” So, in porting Outlaws to the Switch, it seems that Ubisoft and Massive were left with two tough options: either go the game key card route or significantly decrease the quality so that the game can at least run smoothly. Either way, it doesn’t seem like there was a way to make everyone happy.

The Switch 2 has been very successful so far. It’s only been around for less than a handful of months, but it has already become the fastest-selling console of all time. Third-party studios will continue to want to bring their titles to a console with a strong and growing player base. If this is the kind of solution that can help bigger games launch sooner on the Switch 2, and people buy into it, then I am worried that studios and publishers will continue to make this choice, pushing us further into a digital future for video games.

Star Wars: Outlaws

August 30, 2024

Rate It!

• Overview
• Guide
• Maps
• Review

• Star Wars
• Massive Entertainment / Ubisoft Massive
• Snowdrop
• Nintendo Switch 2