Ubisoft developer explains why Nintendo Switch 2 game cards aren't enough

The release of the Nintendo Switch 2 introduced a hotly debated feature, the Game Key card. Instead of getting the entire game on the cartridge, the buyer would receive a download code.

2

For collectors and anyone who enjoys the plug-and-play nature of physical game cards, Game Key cards were the antithesis, and, unfortunately for these users, many studios jumped at the opportunity to use Game Key cards. Notably, Nintendo still provides the option of physical game cards with the entire game on the card itself, meaning no download is required. These cards can hold up to 64GB of storage, which falls short of some bigger games.

However, the size of the physical card may not be the deciding factor, as a Ubisoft developer has explained that performance was the deal breaker between Ubisoft going with a physical card release or the Game Key card with a download for the release of Star Wars Outlaws on September 4. In a social media post, audio architect Rob Bantin said the Snowdrop engine "relies heavily on disk streaming for its open world environments," and that "the Switch 2 cards simply didn't give the performance we needed at the quality target we were going for."

"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," wrote Rob Bantin, an audio architect on the Snowdrop engine

Many critics of studios opting for Game Key cards accuse the studio of wanting to save money, which is most likely the case, as the studio/publisher doesn't have to purchase higher capacity SD cards that would eat into profits. But in Ubisoft's case, "I don't recall the cost of the cards ever entering the discussion - probably because it was moot."

Notably, the developer said that if a game was designed specifically for the Nintendo Switch 2, then performance problems related to the SD card probably wouldn't be an issue.

"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. In this case I think our leadership made the right call," said Bantin