Thanks, yeah this is pretty much forced play. I guess it is also possible (technically) to modify the code of the game to remove the firmware requirement, if it is just a version check?

They're doing some cryptographic operations to prevent modified games from being loaded (probably a signature, but I'm not 100% sure). One of the uses for a rooted switch (or any other console I suppose) other than piracy is to play modded games. You can find youtube videos of people doing all sorts of crazy challenges in popular games and many of these challenges require modding the game.