Star Wars Outlaws Dev Explains Why the Switch 2 Version Is…

Physical copies of Star Wars Outlaws on Nintendo Switch 2 come in the form of a Game-Key Card, and the reason seems to be related to performance compatibility between the console's hardware and the game engine used to power the action-adventure game. Many Nintendo fans have expressed disappointment with Nintendo's use of Game-Key Cards, and now Star Wars Outlaws is drawing similar criticism.

Star Wars Outlaws was originally released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in August 2024, and while aggregated reviews from players on platforms like OpenCritic and Steam have shown generally good reactions, the game appears to have fallen far short of publisher Ubisoft's sales expectations. With its launch on Nintendo Switch 2 having just occurred on September 4, Ubisoft now has a chance to make up for those disappointing sales figures on a new platform.

ubisoft-star-wars-outlaws-financial-flop-why

Ubisoft Comments on Why Star Wars Outlaws Was a Financial Flop

Ubisoft comments on why last year's Star Wars Outlaws proved to be a financial flop for the company.

Posts 34

By Daniel Morris

Switch 2 Cartridges Reportedly Can't Handle Star Wars Outlaws

However, some potential players have been driven off by the use of Nintendo's controversial Game-Key Cards, little red Switch 2 cartridges that look like normal physical games but instead come with a digital key for downloading a game. Some fans online have been criticizing Ubisoft for the physical Switch 2 release utilizing Game-Key Cards, assuming it was done as a cost-saving measure, but one high-ranking developer at Massive Entertainment now states that assumption is incorrect. Robert Bantin, who has worked in Massive's audio department for nearly eight years and currently serves as audio architect for its Snowdrop proprietary game engine, took to Bluesky to state that normal Switch 2 cartridges don't allow for the performance quality that the development team was aiming for in disk streaming its open-world environments. "I don’t recall the cost of the cards ever entering the discussion — probably because it was moot," he stated.

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. I don’t recall the cost of the cards ever entering the discussion - probably because it was moot. — Rob Bantin 🇸🇪🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 (@cubusaddendum.bsky.social) 2025-09-04T18:51:52.058Z

Most of the criticism surrounding Game-Key Cards comes from a sense of loss of ownership over games. Nintendo has stated that it implemented the system to allow Switch 2 owners to still get the experience of buying physical games with cases that they can display in their collections even if the games themselves are too big to fit on a cartridge compatible with the hybrid console. It appears the company is aware of some players' trepidation about buying them, as in July, Nintendo started a Game-Key Card survey in Japan to gauge fans' reactions to the system.

According to rumors that surfaced in July, a sequel to Star Wars Outlaws was canceled while still in the early stages of development. Despite the original game's underperformance in sales, there still seems to be demand for a sequel, as a fan petition to save Star Wars Outlaws 2 has been circulating on Change.org and has gathered, to date, close to 2,000 online signatures.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image