A Switch 2 port of this graphically intensive game — ray-traced lighting is a foundational element of its look on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X — will be an important feather in the console’s cap. It’s another sign that Nintendo is determined to establish the Switch 2 as a home for ports of AAA third-party games, which took a while to come to the original Nintendo Switch because of its underpowered hardware.
Of course, we’ll have to see how well titles like Star Wars Outlaws and Cyberpunk 2077 actually look and perform on the Switch 2. In a brief glimpse of gameplay footage released Friday, the game appears to be running at 30 frames per second, which is the frame rate of the quality mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
The Switch 2 version of Star Wars Outlaws will arrive almost exactly one year after the game’s launch, which came at the end of August 2024. Alongside the announcement of the Switch 2 port on Friday, Ubisoft released a demo of the game on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Players can now try out a Tatooine-based chunk of Star Wars Outlaws that includes dogfighting in orbit above the planet, battles with factions such as the Hutt Cartel and Tusken Raiders, a visit to Mos Eisley, and the card game Kessel Sabacc — although it’s worth noting that the demo is limited to three hours of play, and progress in it will not carry over to the full game.
It may seem curious for Ubisoft to release a demo of Star Wars Outlaws more than seven and a half months after launching the game, but there are likely a few different factors at play here. For one thing, Ubisoft said in mid-February, during the investor call for its third-quarter 2024-2025 fiscal year earnings report, that the game had continued to fall short of the publisher’s sales expectations. So it makes sense that the company would try new things, like a demo, in an attempt to bring in new players.
Secondly, now seems like a good time to get people to try Star Wars Outlaws. At Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 on Friday, Ubisoft showed a trailer for A Pirate’s Fortune, the second story expansion for the game. Scheduled to be released on May 15, the add-on features a storyline in which Kay Vess (and her adorable merqaal companion, Nix) works with the space pirate Hondo Ohnaka, who may be familiar to Star Wars fans from his appearances on the beloved animated series The Clone Wars. Here’s the synopsis from Ubisoft:
Embark on a mysterious adventure with Kay and Nix to explore the Khepi system and learn what it takes to be a true leader.
Team up with legendary pirate Hondo Ohnaka and face off against Stinger Tash and her Rokana Raiders as you infiltrate the Khepi Tomb to uncover the secrets and hidden treasures it holds.
Along the way, you’ll discover the Miyuki Trade League who offer new rewards for the Trailblazer in exchange for smuggling dangerous goods across the galaxy.
But perhaps the most notable reason to jump in now is that even for players who have already tried Star Wars Outlaws, it may be worth giving the game another shot. Following the lukewarm reception at launch, Massive Entertainment released a number of significant updates that made major changes to elements such as the stealth mechanics. In a reappraisal of Star Wars Outlaws in December, following the rollout of those patches, Luke Plunkett wrote at Aftermath that the game is now “markedly improved” and comes “pretty close” to achieving its goal of being “maybe the most Star Wars game ever made.”
