Switch 2’s Most Impressive Port, Star Wars Outlaws, Just Got Better

Star Wars: Outlaws recently landed on Nintendo Switch 2, and despite some initial fears that it would look and run terribly, the game is a bit of a technical marvel and easily the most impressive Switch 2 port yet. And now, a new update has improved this already wonderful-looking open-world action game on Nintendo’s hybrid console. Plus, a demo is coming, too.

Ubisoft and Massive’s open-world Star Wars: Outlaws was an incredibly gorgeous game when it launched last year. Sure, stealth sections could be annoying and combat could feel a bit stiff, but getting to walk around a perfectly recreated section of the Star Wars universe freely was amazing. And some later updates improved the game a lot, introducing some visual improvements on top of some significant gameplay tweaks. So I wasn’t sure what to expect when I booted up Outlaws on a Switch 2. Turns out, Ubisoft Red Lynx, who ported the game, did an amazing job. While it’s capped at 30FPS and lacks some of the higher-fidelity assets from the bigger console ports, this version of Outlaws is extremely playable, looks sharp, and feels great in handheld mode. As explained by Digital Foundry, it’s truly an extraordinary port. Now, Ubisoft has made it look even better with the game’s first Switch 2 update.

On September 8, Ubisoft put out a patch for Star Wars: Outlaws on Switch 2 that features numerous visual improvements. Players should now see less “pop in,” less flickering smoke, better shadows, nicer-looking leaves, and a host of other “small visual fixes.” For a game that already felt like it was pushing the Switch 2’s hardware to its limits, I’m impressed by Ubisoft cranking the knob a bit more to eke out an even nicer-looking port.

Oh, and if you want to see the game in action on your Switch 2 without buying it, good news: Ubisoft has updated the game’s FAQ page to confirm that a demo for Outlaws is coming. Ubisoft says it will “share more information soon” about this upcoming demo. Anyway, here’s the full patch list for the new Outlaws update on Switch 2.

General Gameplay

Fixed several issues where NPCs would not spawn, e.g. when chasing Kay during the ‘Crashed’ quest on Toshara
Reduced likelihood of Kay being stuck when traversing the environment
Improved hiding and detection when in tall grass on Akiva
Various stability improvements and other minor fixes

Graphics

Improvements made to visual quality when moving quickly through the world or using binoculars, with less “pop in”
Reduced flickering with smoke and lighting
Improved shadows at the edge of the screen when moving in cities and stations
Improved quality of leaves, cloth and other things that let light through
Various other small visual fixes and improvements

Camera

Fixed camera movement when traversing certain objects in certain ways with Kay

UI

Fixed controller image types and directional button prompts when switching between Joy-Con and Pro Controller
Fixed the gadget inventory HUD not resizing when using the handheld preset custom scaling settings

Wild Card Story Pack