Games

Star Wars Outlaws on Switch 2: PAX West hands-on, performance realities, and smart launch-day expectations

3 September 2025
Nintendo Switch 2
10 min.
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Star Wars Outlaws on Switch 2: PAX West hands-on, performance realities, and smart launch-day expectations

Summary:

We break down what GVG’s PAX West 2025 hands-on suggests about Star Wars Outlaws on Nintendo Switch 2 just days before launch on September 4, 2025. The team reports rough performance with visible trade-offs, and Ubisoft did not allow direct capture of the Switch 2 demo on the show floor. That policy alone doesn’t prove a problem, but paired with eyewitness accounts and earlier preview analysis showing sub-30 fps dips, it paints a cautious picture for day-one buyers. We explain how the Switch 2 version compares to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC today, why resolution, DLSS, ray tracing, and frame pacing matter more on hybrid hardware, and what the curated PAX West slice implies about open-world streaming. We also look back at the game’s 2024 launch on other platforms—acknowledging the bugs at release and the numerous patches since—and we offer clear advice: who should jump in on September 4, who should wait for post-launch updates, and what to watch for in patch notes and tech breakdowns. The goal is simple: set fair expectations so you can decide whether Outlaws on Switch 2 suits how you like to play.

PAX West hands-on reveals rough Switch 2 performance for Star Wars Outlaws

Hands-on impressions from the PAX West 2025 show floor point to a Switch 2 build of Star Wars Outlaws that still needs polish, especially on frame rate consistency and image stability. Reports describe inconsistent performance during combat and traversal, with visible hitches that break the sense of flow you expect from a big third-person action adventure. That doesn’t mean the game is unplayable; it means the trade-offs to fit a sprawling open world onto a hybrid system show through more than fans hoped this close to launch. When you’re firing blasters, ducking into cover, and snapping the camera to read a room, uneven frame pacing and dips are instantly noticeable. If you felt prior Switch-era “impossible ports” sometimes crossed that fine line between admirable and awkward, the PAX West demo suggests Outlaws may be toeing it on Switch 2 right now.

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Why Ubisoft restricted recording for the Switch 2 demo

Show-floor demos often block recording to prevent low-quality capture from misrepresenting a work-in-progress build, but the no-recording rule here has extra weight because impressions already flag performance issues. Without direct footage, we rely on eyewitness accounts and off-camera notes rather than frame-by-frame counts. That lack of raw capture can frustrate players who want hard numbers, yet it’s common practice when publishers want control over messaging in the final days before release. The safer read: Ubisoft is protecting against viral clips that flatten nuance—thirty seconds of a crowded firefight can look worse than the surrounding hour. The more wary read: the team didn’t want choppy sequences circulating ahead of September 4. Both can be true. Either way, the policy nudges us to focus on what we felt and saw, not just what we can scrub through on a timeline.

How the Switch 2 build differs from PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

On PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, Outlaws launched in 2024 to mixed technical feedback, then improved across multiple updates. Those platforms still enjoy stronger CPU and GPU headroom, plus denser memory bandwidth—key when you’re streaming large spaces, running AI, and layering effects. Switch 2 is a notable jump over the original Switch and can deliver modern features like upscaling and hardware ray-tracing support, but it remains a mobile-class system with a different performance envelope. On hybrid hardware, CPU-bound NPC logic and open-world streaming often become the bottleneck before raw shader throughput. The result is visible compromise: lower internal resolution feeding an upscaler, pared-back effects, and strict caps on crowd density or draw distance. None of that sinks a port if the target is hit consistently. The question is whether Outlaws hits those targets today—and the PAX West reports suggest it’s close, but not quite there.

What preview footage and tech commentary suggest about fps

Prior public showings and commentary have already hinted at performance headwinds. Earlier analysis noted sub-30 fps stretches in small firefights and choppy pacing in cutscenes, even when visuals held together respectably. That lines up with what show-floor players described: combat dips, camera jitter during quick turns, and an overall “not yet locked” feel. These impressions don’t doom the release; they underscore how sensitive open-world shooters are to frame pacing and CPU spikes. A stable 30 with steady pacing usually feels fine on a controller. A 30 that swings to the low twenties during explosions or crowd scenes does not. If Outlaws is to land well on Switch 2, smoothing those troughs—and keeping input latency predictable—matters as much as any single resolution number on a spec sheet.

The likely technical targets: resolution, DLSS, ray tracing, and frame pacing

Based on public info and what players reported, the Switch 2 version appears to lean on upscaling to reconcile ambition with hardware reality. Expect a modest internal resolution that DLSS can reconstruct, paired with aggressive dynamic resolution scaling in heavy scenes. Visual showpieces—glossy corridors on Imperial craft, neon-lit cantinas, and hard-edged materials—will stress reconstruction quality, revealing shimmering on sub-pixel details and specular highlights if the internal buffer drops too low. Ray tracing looks to be retained in some form, but likely at trimmed sample counts or hybrid modes. None of this is a deal-breaker if the frame-time graph is smooth. Frame pacing consistency is the real boss fight here; if the team can tame micro-stutter and minimize long frame spikes from streaming, the whole experience will feel dramatically better even if pixel counts rarely wow.

DLSS and image quality trade-offs

DLSS is doing heavy lifting, and the exact mode matters. Quality mode yields cleaner edges and more stable fine detail but costs performance headroom; Performance mode buys fps at the expense of more shimmer and ghosting risk on fast-moving targets. In an open-world shooter with frequent camera snaps, those trade-offs are obvious. We’d expect the port to prefer Performance or balanced settings in combat-heavy spaces, with Quality reserved for contained interiors or cutscenes. The reconstruction pipeline will also work best when the internal resolution doesn’t crater. That means careful dynamic scaling floors—dip too far and you invite smeared edges and crawling geometry that distracts the eye more than a slightly lower, but steadier, target.

Docked vs handheld expectations

Docked play gives Outlaws more thermal and power headroom, enabling higher clocks and more aggressive upscaler settings. Handheld shrinks the screen, which can mask some aliasing, but you lose absolute pixel budget and often see tighter dynamic scaling limits. If you care about the “cleanest” look, docked on a 4K panel with good TV-side upscaling will likely be the best-looking way to play on Switch 2. If you care about feel, the key is whether handheld can keep a firm 30 with stable pacing. The PAX West slice was reportedly docked only, which leaves handheld an open question. Historically, handheld can feel smoother than it looks thanks to pixel density, but only if streaming and CPU spikes are under control.

Demo constraints and what they signal about open-world streaming

The PAX West demo reportedly avoided the widest open-world segments, leaning on curated slices. That’s normal for shows and doesn’t mean those areas are broken. It does, however, hint at the current pain points: fast traversal, dense crowds, or long sightlines that stress memory and I/O. Open worlds live or die on streaming; when your camera rockets across space, new assets must arrive in time, decompressed and ready, without starving the renderer. Console-class CPUs can juggle that while feeding AI and physics; mobile-class chips can too, but budgets are tighter and hitches show up sooner. If the show build fenced players into controlled corridors and arenas, it’s likely to keep the stream predictable and show the game at its best—just not the busiest.

Level curation to hide bottlenecks

Show demos often reduce variable load: fewer NPCs, shorter sightlines, and set-piece combat where enemy counts are known. That highlights art direction and mechanics while lowering the odds that a stream stalls. If Outlaws’ Switch 2 demo stuck to interior firefights, it’s a clue that aggressive streaming in wider zones still causes spikes. That’s a fixable class of problem—devs tune budgets, pre-warm streams, and re-path AI to keep thunks off the critical path—but it’s rarely solved by a single patch. Expect iterative gains over the first weeks as the team sees real-world telemetry and tightens the hot spots players actually hit.

Streaming on slower storage

Switch 2 storage performance trails high-end NVMe drives in modern consoles, so Outlaws has to be picky about what it asks for and when. Smart asset packing, pruned mip chains, and prioritized I/O can carry a lot of weight, but when the camera whips or a chase scene hits maximum chaos, everything lands at once: textures, animation, physics, particles, and audio. That’s when frame spikes show. If you’ve felt a sleek corridor suddenly turn choppy as a door opens to a busy hangar, you’ve felt I/O contention. A stable experience demands discipline: prefetch, predict, and keep the heaviest work off the render thread.

Launch history on other platforms and what patches fixed

Outlaws didn’t have a spotless debut in 2024, with bugs and performance issues called out alongside praise for its worldbuilding. The good news is that Ubisoft shipped multiple updates through late 2024 and into 2025 that improved stability, adjusted stealth design, refined camera behavior on vehicles, and smoothed out performance on consoles and PC. That track record matters for Switch 2 buyers. While it can’t guarantee parity on day one, it shows a willingness to iterate quickly and tackle pain points players actually raise. If the Switch 2 release follows the same pattern, expect tangible gains in the early post-launch window—especially in stability and pacing—provided the team can gather the right data and prioritize the hottest trouble spots.

What this means for day-one buyers on September 4

With launch just days away, expectations should be set around a 30 fps target that occasionally wobbles under load, with image quality heavily reliant on upscaling. If you’re sensitive to pacing hiccups or shimmering edges, the safest move is to wait for the first round of patches and independent counts. If you’re eager to explore the galaxy on a handheld and can live with visible compromises, the Switch 2 version still offers the unique perk of portability. The most important signal to watch is consistency: are firefights and space dogfights holding their line, or are spikes frequent enough to break your rhythm? That single factor will shape whether the trade-offs feel fair.

Who should wait

If you bounced off prior “impossible ports” due to shimmer and hitching, sit tight for tech breakdowns after launch. A thorough look at docked versus handheld behavior, traversal hotspots, and crowded interiors will tell you if performance crosses your personal threshold. If you already own Outlaws on another platform and portability isn’t a must, patches there have matured the experience and may remain the better way to play right now. For newcomers who prize smoothness above all, give the Switch 2 build a little time to breathe.

What to watch in day-one patch notes

Keep an eye on four items: dynamic resolution floors (higher floors usually mean cleaner reconstruction), CPU-side optimizations for AI and streaming, fixes for frame-time spikes during explosions or crowd spawns, and any DLSS mode changes in combat spaces. If the notes call out improved pacing or fewer stalls during traversal, that’s a great sign. If they’re mostly cosmetic tweaks, expect feel to remain similar.

Practical settings and playstyle expectations at launch

Assuming the port exposes any toggles, favor performance-leaning defaults. Reduce motion blur if it amplifies the sense of judder, and consider lowering camera acceleration to help your eye track reconstruction artifacts. In combat, short, deliberate camera pans read better than whiplash turns; that’s a small behavioral adjustment that can make a choppy moment feel calmer. For players sensitive to shimmer, docked play on a TV with solid scaling can soften the look. Handheld, embrace the screen size: the same aliasing that bothers you from three meters away on a 65-inch panel often fades on a 7-inch display. None of this fixes underlying budgets, but it stacks small wins in your favor.

Bigger picture: third-party AAA on Switch 2 after Outlaws

Outlaws is a bellwether for how far big, open-world shooters can stretch on Switch 2. The hardware can clearly host ambitious games, but not without cost: resolution, effect density, and most of all pacing consistency. Publishers know that viral side-by-side clips can overshadow good handheld play, which is why communication stays cautious until the last minute. If Outlaws ships with visible compromises but patches into a steady, portable 30, it will still represent a meaningful win for the platform. If spikes persist, it reinforces the lesson from prior generations: pick battles carefully, design to the hardware from day one, and use portability as the differentiator—not parity for parity’s sake. Players, meanwhile, can vote with patience, rewarding teams that turn early rough edges into steady, enjoyable play over the first few weeks.

Conclusion

Outlaws on Switch 2 looks playable but prickly in its current state, with show-floor impressions pointing to uneven frame pacing and clear visual trade-offs. No-recording policies muddy the evidence, yet the overall pattern—cautious messaging, curated demos, and prior sub-30 readings—tells us to set expectations wisely. If you want portable Star Wars this week and can accept shimmer and dips, go for it; if you crave steadiness above all, hold out for post-launch updates and independent counts. Either way, knowing the likely limits—upscaling reliance, trimmed ray tracing, and tight CPU budgets—helps you enjoy what the port does well while staying realistic about what it can’t magically become overnight.

FAQs
  • Q: Is Star Wars Outlaws still releasing on Switch 2 on September 4, 2025?

    • A: Yes. The publisher has announced a September 4 Switch 2 release following the 2024 launch on other platforms.
  • Q: Why wasn’t recording allowed for the Switch 2 demo at PAX West?

    • A: Show demos often block capture to control messaging. Here it also prevented choppy segments from circulating without context, which is common close to launch.
  • Q: Does the Switch 2 version keep ray tracing?

    • A: Public commentary and prior footage indicate ray-traced features are retained in some form, likely with reduced complexity to balance performance.
  • Q: How does it compare to PS5/Xbox/PC right now?

    • A: Those platforms have stronger performance headroom. Switch 2 relies more on upscaling and tighter budgets, so dips and pacing issues are more noticeable in busy scenes.
  • Q: Should I buy day one or wait?

    • A: If steady frame pacing is your top priority, wait for the first patches and independent analyses. If portability matters most and you’re flexible on visual purity, day one can still be worthwhile.
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