One of the most debated quirks of Nintendo’s latest hardware—its “game key card” format—ended up solving a real performance problem for Star Wars: Outlaws on Switch 2. A Ubisoft developer said the team’s open-world tech simply ran better when the game was installed to internal storage via a key card rather than read directly from a traditional cartridge.
Game key cards are physical cartridges that carry a license and trigger a full download, rather than housing the software itself. Preservationists dislike the approach, collectors bristle at the idea of “empty” carts, and players worry about long-term access if servers go offline. Yet in this case, the contentious format doubled as a technical fix.
Why a key card can be faster than a cartridge
Outlaws runs on Ubisoft’s Snowdrop engine, which leans heavily on constant data streaming to feed large environments and dense detail as you move. For that model to work smoothly, storage needs to deliver assets quickly and predictably to avoid hitching, pop-in, or long traversal stutters.
According to Ubisoft developer Rob Bantin, the team found that conventional Switch 2 game cards didn’t provide the sustained throughput and latency profile required to hit their quality target. Installing the game to internal flash via a key card eliminated that bottleneck, giving Snowdrop a steadier I/O pipeline. He added that cost savings weren’t the driver—performance was.
That rationale tracks with how Snowdrop has been used across other expansive titles from Ubisoft, where streaming systems constantly pull in geometry, textures, and effects. In practice, reading from internal storage typically offers higher bandwidth and lower seek times than reading complex data directly from a removable card, making it easier to maintain image stability during fast traversal or combat.
Technical analysts back the decision
Early technical breakdowns have praised the Switch 2 port. Specialists at Digital Foundry described it as an unusually strong conversion, noting image quality broadly in the ballpark of Xbox Series S and the inclusion of ray-traced effects—features that would normally be considered ambitious on Nintendo hardware. The upshot: where streaming pressure is intense, the storage path matters.
The result suggests more than a straightforward downscale. It points to careful I/O tuning, memory management, and asset strategy tailored to the console’s strengths when the game is installed internally. If those fundamentals are right, features like ray tracing can survive the transition without tanking stability, even if settings and resolution are adjusted.
Preservation worries persist—but with nuance
None of this erases the long-standing concerns around key cards. The Video Game History Foundation and other advocates have repeatedly warned that server-dependent releases jeopardize future access and complicate archiving. Physical buyers also lose some of the permanence that a data-filled cartridge provides.
Still, Outlaws illustrates a trade-off that may be unavoidable for certain large-scale ports. When an engine’s streaming model clashes with cartridge I/O, delivering the game via a key card can be a pragmatic way to preserve performance, even if it isn’t ideal for collectors. Bantin’s note that cost did not factor meaningfully into the decision further undercuts the notion that this was merely a budget move.
What this means for future Switch 2 ports
If Outlaws is any indication, other open-world games—particularly those built around heavy streaming—may gravitate toward key cards to take advantage of internal storage performance. Expect publishers to weigh download size, storage footprint, and offline access against the gains in frame pacing, texture loading, and traversal smoothness.
For players, the immediate takeaway is simple: the Switch 2 version of Star Wars: Outlaws is better for having been installed to the console, not worse. The controversial format didn’t just save shelf space—it cleared a path for a port that looks and runs far better than skeptics expected. Clear labeling and candid developer communication, like Bantin’s, will be crucial as more studios decide whether the same trade makes sense for their games.