Ubisoft Reveals MASSIVE Reason Why Star Wars Outlaws Is Game Key-card Only On Switch 2

As the discourse around Nintendo's use of Game Key-cards for the Nintendo Switch 2 continues to stir up debates on the internet, Star Wars Outlaws immediately got caught in the crosshairs when people learned of Ubisoft's decision to make the game only available for Game Key-cards for its physical copy, with some fans accusing Ubisoft of taking the cheaper route, as Game Key-cards cost less to produce. However, it turns out that Ubisoft's decision was more of a technical decision than a financial one, as a Massive Entertainment developer reveals through a Bluesky post.

The Real Reason Why Star Wars Outlaws is Game Key-card Only on the Switch 2

As reported by Vice , Ubisoft's decision to ship Star Wars Outlaws to customers via Nintendo Switch 2 Game Key-cards appears to have been made in consideration of the game's requirements. Massive developed the game using the Snowdrop Engine, which relies heavily on using a device's internal storage to stream the game right from the disk in rendering the open-world environment. As developer Rob Bantin reveals , the cost of Game Key-cards were never in the conversation, most probably because it wouldn't have mattered, as the Switch 2's regular cartridges wouldn't have been able to provide the disk streaming needed by the game to function properly.

Bantin also noted that since the game was a port for the Nintendo Switch 2 rather than a game built from the ground up, it made it impossible for them to develop the game specifically for the Nintendo Switch 2's hardware limitations, so they had to adapt accordingly. "I think if we'd designed a game for Switch 2 from the ground up, it might have been different," he says. "As it was, we'd build a game around the SSDs of the initial target platforms, and then the Switch 2 came along a while later," adding that he thinks Ubisoft's leadership had made the right call.

Star Wars Outlaws was released on the Nintendo Switch 2 on September 4, 2025, with the game also available for purchase on PC, as well as on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

This story was originally reported by GameDaily on Sep 10, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add GameDaily as a Preferred Source by clicking here.