A focused holiday guide to Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition on Nintendo Switch 2: what the Season Pass actually includes, how the port stacks up against PS5/Xbox/PC, and what early deep discounts suggest about Ubisoft’s long‑term plans on Nintendo hardware.
What You Actually Get In Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition On Switch 2
On Nintendo Switch 2, the Gold Edition of Star Wars Outlaws is essentially the “all in” version. It is the base game plus the full Season Pass, which is the same content Ubisoft sells on other platforms.
The Season Pass is built around two major story expansions and a handful of cosmetic and early mission bonuses. Ubisoft’s official breakdown, which the Kotaku Black Friday coverage reiterates, looks like this:
You get two story-focused DLC packs. The Wild Card story pack is the first major expansion. It adds a new narrative arc starring Kay Vess, built around a fresh heist thread and new locations within existing systems. Expect it to lean on new contracts, a separate quest line on the map, and additional gear or upgrades that slot into your existing save. A Pirate’s Fortune is the second story pack and is pitched as a treasure-hunting, syndicate-clashing add-on that again layers more missions and characters into the existing galaxy rather than acting like a standalone campaign.
On top of those headline DLCs, the Season Pass also unlocks a set of extras from the moment you start the game. Jabba’s Gambit is an exclusive Day 1 mission that gives you an extra job with the Hutt crime families early in the story. It does not radically rewrite the main plot, but it is extra narrative content that fans of the criminal underworld side of Star Wars will appreciate. You also get the Kessel Runner character pack, the Hunter’s Legacy bundle, and the Cartel Ronin bundle. These are themed cosmetic and gear sets that reskin Kay, Nix, and the Trailblazer, and usually come with minor stat tweaks or blaster variants that are useful for the opening stretch.
Crucially, none of the Season Pass content is cut down for Switch 2. Ubisoft’s parity plan keeps the DLC story arcs and cosmetics aligned across every platform, and the roadmap for when those story packs launch is shared between consoles and PC. Buying Gold Edition on Switch 2 gives you the same timeline and entitlements as buying Gold on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or PC.
How The Switch 2 Version Compares To Other Platforms
Star Wars Outlaws launched first on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and the Switch 2 version arrived as part of the first wave of more demanding third party releases for the new Nintendo hardware. The question for holiday buyers is how much compromise there is if you pick the handheld-friendly version.
File size is the most obvious difference. On Switch 2, the game sits at around a 20 GB download. That is roughly one third of the footprint on other consoles, where high resolution textures and cinematic assets balloon things closer to typical 50 to 70 GB installs. Ubisoft’s Switch build leans on more aggressive texture streaming and compression so that the game fits comfortably on a standard Switch 2 internal drive or a modest microSD card. If you are buying this for a younger player on a 256 GB system, that lower storage hit matters.
Resolution and frame rate are the second point of divergence. In handheld mode, Outlaws targets 720p on Switch 2, while docked it pushes up to 1440p with a 60 fps target. That sits below what a well specced PC can do and slightly under the typical 4K output of PS5 and Xbox Series X when those versions are running performance modes on modern TVs. On the other hand, Switch 2’s 60 fps target is a big step up from what current Switch owners are used to and makes the mix of stealth, blaster shootouts, and ship dogfights feel responsive.
Visually, the Switch 2 version retains the broad strokes of the experience. Crowded cantinas are still busy with reactive NPCs, the reputation system still drives different reactions from crime syndicates, and large hub planets keep their core layouts and exploration beats. Foliage density, shadow resolution, and some distant detail are dialed back compared to PS5 and high end PC, and you will see more visible pop in when flying low over terrain or sprinting through dense alleys. In exchange, you gain the ability to take a full scale Star Wars open world on the go without relying on a cloud streaming solution.
Load times depend a lot on whether the Switch 2 copy is installed to fast internal storage or an older microSD card. In direct comparisons against PS5’s SSD, Sony’s system still wins when fast traveling between planets or reloading after death, but Switch 2 is not dramatically behind. This is not the loading slog of late generation ports on the original Switch.
If you already own a powerful PC or a current PlayStation or Xbox and you care most about high end visuals, those versions are still the technical showcase. If your priority is couch co op style pass and play, long train commutes, or putting a Star Wars sandbox into a kid’s backpack, Switch 2 delivers the full design with only predictable visual trimming.
Is Gold Edition On Switch 2 A Good Holiday Buy?
With early deep discounts pushing the Switch 2 Gold Edition down to half price shortly after launch, it is fair to wonder what that says about the game’s long term value and Ubisoft’s plans on Nintendo hardware.
From a pure content per dollar perspective, the current deals are strong. For a price that is already under most new Switch 2 first party releases, you get the full open world campaign, both future story DLC packs through the Season Pass, and all cosmetic bundles. Ubisoft games often see steep sales within months of launch, but hitting 50 percent off on a premium edition on a new Nintendo platform this quickly is still notable.
In practice, the discount does not signal that the game is incomplete on Switch 2. The Season Pass model here is closer to a traditional pair of expansions with cosmetic bonuses, not a battle pass or hard live service grind. There are no exclusive seasonal events on Nintendo that would demand a constant player base to stay relevant. Instead, it looks more like Ubisoft is using aggressive discounting to seed a larger audience early on a platform where third party games traditionally fight for shelf and eShop visibility against evergreen Nintendo titles.
If anything, the presence of a full Season Pass and synchronized DLC roadmap with other platforms hints at a solid medium term tail. Ubisoft will bring at least those two story packs to Switch 2, and they are incentivized to keep parity so that Kay Vess feels like a viable long haul character wherever you play. Deep holiday discounts simply bring the all inclusive version down into impulse buy territory for families already picking up a Switch 2 system.
For parents or gift givers, the main question should be the recipient’s tolerance for online requirements and updates. Outlaws is a primarily single player experience, but like other modern Ubisoft titles it benefits from periodic patches, balance tweaks, and DLC drops that arrive via the internet. A Switch 2 that rarely connects online will still run the base game, but you may sit on the Season Pass content until you can download the expansions.
Should You Choose Switch 2 Gold Edition Over Other Platforms?
If the buyer already owns a powerful console or gaming PC, choosing where to play comes down to three factors: portability, friends list, and budget.
Switch 2 is the only way to play Star Wars Outlaws natively in handheld form without resorting to streaming from another device. If the player spends a lot of time away from a TV and loves narrative games they can chip away at in bed or on trips, that advantage is hard to ignore. The Gold Edition sale pricing also means you can land the full package for less than the base game costs elsewhere at standard MSRP.
On the other hand, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC will still be the home for the crispest image quality and the most stable performance at very high resolutions. If the person you are buying for is the sort who notices every dropped frame and owns a 4K OLED, they may prefer to live in that ecosystem instead and pick up the DLC separately when discounted.
There is also the question of Ubisoft Connect and cross progression. Ubisoft typically lets you carry your save and unlocks between platforms that are tied to the same account, but the precise support matrix can vary. If cross progression between Switch 2 and another system matters in your household, it is worth checking Ubisoft’s current support documentation before committing. For a first and only copy though, Switch 2 Gold Edition is not a second class citizen in terms of content.
Holiday Recommendation
For holiday 2025, Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 lands in a sweet spot. It offers the complete package of story content and planned DLC, it runs respectably on Nintendo’s hardware with smart compromises, and it is already available at steep discounts that undercut most big releases on the platform.
If you are buying for someone who loves Star Wars, open world adventures, and portable play, the Gold Edition on Switch 2 is an easy recommendation, especially at or near half price. Only lean toward other platforms if visual fidelity at 4K truly outweighs the benefits of playing Kay Vess’s scoundrel saga anywhere you want.