As the Nintendo Switch 2 launch approaches, the landscape for physical game releases is shifting. Ubisoft recently revealed that the physical edition of "Star Wars Outlaws" for the Switch 2 will utilize a Game-Key Card, a decision that has sparked considerable debate within the gaming community. 
The Game-Key Card is a new physical cartridge format introduced by Nintendo for the Switch 2. It does not contain the full game data itself, but rather acts as a "key," requiring players to download the game via the internet before they can play.
This move has unsettled some players, who fear that if Nintendo's servers are eventually shut down, the cartridges will become obsolete, making games unplayable and unsavable. Furthermore, many observers widely believed that publishers adopted this model to reduce manufacturing costs, avoiding the higher expenses associated with producing high-speed cartridges.
However, Rob Bantin, Audio Architect for Ubisoft's Snowdrop engine, clarified on Bluesky that the true reason isn't cost, but rather the insufficient read speeds of the Switch 2 cartridges. He noted that while Switch 2 cartridges are faster than those for the original Switch and come with higher manufacturing costs, they still fall short compared to the console's internal storage and MicroSD Express expansion cards.
Because the Snowdrop engine heavily relies on disk streaming performance to render its expansive open worlds, ensuring quality necessitates that all players run the game from internal storage, thus leading to the adoption of the Game-Key Card.
“Snowdrop relies on disk streaming to handle massive open worlds, and the Switch 2 cartridges simply couldn't meet our performance targets,” Bantin stated. “I don't even recall anyone bringing up cost as an issue, because it wasn't the point.” 
He added that if the game had been designed from the ground up specifically for the Switch 2, the development approach might have been different. However, since "Star Wars Outlaws" was originally targeting platforms equipped with SSDs, the Switch 2 version required adjustments. He believes the company's leadership made the correct decision.
Addressing the criticism, Bantin also defended Nintendo, pointing out that balancing portability with performance while maintaining an affordable price point inherently involves many trade-offs. He remarked, “To be fair, the Switch 2 is already a miraculous piece of hardware on most levels.”