Ubisoft dev says Switch 2 game cards are a bottleneck for high-performance titles

[Alfonso Maruccia]

In a nutshell: Game-key cards continue to be a contentious issue within the Switch 2 ecosystem. According to Ubisoft representatives, downloading a newly purchased game from the internet is the preferred approach if you want the fastest possible storage performance.

The Switch 2 is off to a strong start, but some gamers are still frustrated by Nintendo's design choices for its latest hybrid console. The Japanese company has leaned heavily on game-key cards, which contain only a digital license that must be used to download a game from the internet. Most third-party developers are likely to adopt the game-key card system as well, and for good reasons.

Rob Bantin, the audio architect of Ubisoft's Snowdrop engine, shared an interesting insight about Switch 2 game performance during a discussion about Star Wars Outlaws. Snowdrop is Ubisoft's proprietary engine that supports PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch platforms in a single package.

Bantin explained during a recent BlueSky discussion that Snowdrop relies heavily on data streaming to render its open-world environments. However, Switch 2 game cards simply couldn't meet the performance and quality targets Ubisoft had set for the Star Wars Outlaws port.

The eMMC-based cartridge system Nintendo chose for physical Switch 2 games should provide a data rate of up to 400 MB/s. Meanwhile, MicroSD Express expansion cards are expected to at least double that throughput to around 800 MB/s, while the Switch 2's internal SSD can reach speeds up to 2,000 MB/s.

Some more "static" games may only load slightly slower from a game card, but streaming-heavy titles like Star Wars Outlaws are likely to experience a more significant performance penalty.

The game card's relatively slower performance has also been noted by other developers. Charles Tremblay, VP of Technology at CD Projekt Red, said in a recent interview that the data rate of the MicroSD Express port was "great," while game cards were just "okay." Despite this, a significant majority of sales (75 percent) for the Switch 2 port of Cyberpunk 2077 still came from physical cartridges.

Bantin further explained that using the game-key card format for Star Wars Outlaws was essentially mandatory because the game was designed for SSD-equipped systems. Had Ubisoft redesigned the Switch 2 port from the ground up, the outcome might have been different.

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Ubisoft dev says Switch 2 game cards are a bottleneck for high-performance titles

 

[Billybobjoey]

It's an interesting angle to the game key card problem that I never considered. I think I would have preferred having "install key cards" where it would install the game files to local storage before being able to play, like playstation and xbox have done with discs for a long while now. That way, the cartridges aren't just future paper weights once the servers turn off but it "fixes" the slow storage problem.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Well, Ubisoft devs also once claimed that adding a female playable character was a herculean undertaking that was nigh on impossible, so I guess bassic tech challenges like this would be game ending for them.

 

[NumberNine]

Ubisoft on game optimization....

That's the setup and the punchline.

 

[Beerfloat]

It's Ubisoft though. High performance titles being held back.. like, how would they even know?

 

[bviktor]

I don't understand.

The Japanese company has leaned heavily on game-key cards, which contain only a digital license that must be used to download a game from the internet.

How does a digital license bottleneck your games?

 

[Eldrach]

Well ..duh. They're basically glorified SD cards. Most Switch games requires a pretty hefty download after you insert the card for just this reason. What they -do- enable is a way to freely trade your games between friends and family compared to the online "license to play, not to own" we now have for all our digital game shops.

We've been looking at digital game stores as pretty safe, but looking at how Valve is bowing to the pressure from the credit card issuers --I'm kinda afraid of what's next.."Games with references to sex needs to be removed" ..Well, there goes BG3, Cp2077 etc.
I miss the good old times where you'd pop a cd/dvd/blu-ray in ..install the game and play it without having to bother with third party stores. Where patches were downloaded as separate executables that didn't require you to "log in and register" your game.

Ah well - Good Old Games is as close as we get now I guess

 

[Liranan]

eMMC cartridges for a machine as expensive as the Switch 2... Fools and their money are easily parted.

The only thing Ubishite are capable of is spew out the most racist, nonsensical tripe. Their opinion is meaningless as they only exist due to the money Tencent have injected in them.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I don't understand.



How does a digital license bottleneck your games?

-Yeah I'm confused by the issue here, the article didn't really make it clear.

If the game is downloaded to the SSD... Who cares about the emmc card if it only has a license code?

 

[Jarenien]

While they may not be fast enough, as I think someone else already pointed out above, just have all the files on there and then they are just copied over ala PS5 and X, as obviously spinners are never gonna be fast enough for gaming needs today. That way those that want physical copies are happy, and those that want to get digital still can ez pz.

 

[Burty117]

How cheaply made are these cartridges?! When installing on the local SD card is faster.

I guess another way to put it, why force me to use SD Express cards, but not use SD Express cards in the cartidges?

Also, why can Cyberpunk 2077 run absolutely fine from a cartridge but this can't? Or is this classic Ubisoft programming at it's "finest"?

 

[NumberNine]

I don't understand.



How does a digital license bottleneck your games?

Online verification.
With a physical copy, the fact that you're holding it is your verification that you own it.
No internet needed. No permission, no rescention, just real access.