With Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders up and running in most countries and enticing upcoming Switch 2 games set to release during its first two months of life, lots of gamers are eyeing the new console. In most cases, you want the latest piece of hardware to get access to the shiniest new games exclusive to it. I, however, am a sucker for ambitious ports of games I’ve already played elsewhere, so you must understand my bewildered reaction when Star Wars Outlaws – one of the most taxing sandbox games of this generation so far – was unveiled for Switch 2 looking solid and recognizable.
The short teasers released so far don’t really answer anything about this seemingly impossible port beyond “yep, it’s coming to this console that’s well below PS5 and Xbox Series’ specs.” That also includes the small-but-brave Series S, which, for the most part, has managed to stay afloat as games get more complex and visually intricate. While most eyes are on the Cyberpunk 2077 port (set for launch day), don't forget it was always a cross-gen game, so better read speeds alone are apparently enough to push it past the low bar set by the last-gen versions. Star Wars Outlaws though? That’s a big and potentially troublesome effort.
Push it to the limit
You may think the easiest way to discern if a Switch 2 port of Outlaws is feasible is to look at how the game performs on Valve’s Steam Deck. After all, that handheld gaming PC and its competitors represent the current peak of what’s possible to do gaming-wise in portable mode without burning the hardware to a crisp.
Well, more than six months after launch, the first proper open-world Star Wars game remains a tad too ambitious for the Deck. As seen in recent benchmarks, interiors and towns are almost there, but the moment Kay hops on her speeder bike and moves fast across the map, Outlaws sort of becomes a juddery slideshow, often hitting sub-20 FPS lows. Going from a microSD to the Deck’s own internal SSD (only in some models or modded in) barely alters the results, so that’s worrying.
The big issue appears to be... the CPU simply isn’t strong enough, which makes sense. You can see data on the videos I’ve just shared. If you played the game on PC, you’re well aware of how hard Outlaws pushes even the latest CPUs, which also explains its total absence from last-gen consoles. With the Switch 2 specs (more or less) revealed, can we discern a way forward for this port to work?
Go through Nintendo’s official specs sheet, you’ll quickly notice the company is still keeping the details of Switch 2’s CPU and GPU close to its chest, perhaps to gain some advantage in the handheld gaming space for as long as possible. We’ve already seen Cyberpunk 2077 perform notably on the hardware, often topping the Deck’s raw performance in problematic locations such as Dogtown. So, what’s its hidden weapon?
One of the console’s worst kept secrets was the inclusion of Nvidia-powered DLSS image reconstruction capabilities that would greatly improve its chances of success while tackling massive games such as this one. CD Projekt Red’s game is now confirmed to use it, and that could explain how Massive aims to make this daunting port possible. DLSS isn’t a magic wand, however, and especially when we’re dealing with hardware that will be pushed to its limit regardless, so platform-specific optimizations and perhaps even custom solutions based on the Switch 2’s specific architecture could make the overall load bearable.
There’s also the elephant in the room of Outlaws being built with RT lighting in mind. In other cases, devs could just forego that graphical element, but that doesn’t seem very likely here, at least not without intensive in-depth work that would push its September 4, 2025 release date further down the calendar. The folks at Digital Foundry have a few ideas on how this port could avoid being a disaster, but even they are shocked at this stage.
In any case, I think it’s good that third-party developers and publishers are swinging for the fences from the get-go. In fact, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is also lined up for a Switch 2 release if we’re to believe recent leaks, so maybe Nintendo’s new machine has more than a few aces up its figurative sleeve. Personally, I’m constantly returning to the huge shock that was The Witcher 3 Switch review confirming it runs 'good enough’ back in 2019. That sure seemed impossible at the time, so don’t shoot Kay and Nix’s handheld ambitions down just yet.
As launch draws closer, keep an eye on our Switch 2 news roundup to stay in the loop with Nintendo
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