We have received a lot of information about the Nintendo Switch 2 after the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, and many are unsure of where they stand on owning this new console. One of the points that has come up from the Nintendo Switch 2 information website is game key cards. Essentially, this game key card is a cartridge that doesn’t have the full game on it and will require the internet to download the game onto your Nintendo Switch 2.
This isn’t new for the Nintendo owner, however. Some games like Resident Evil Revelations on Nintendo Switch already require the internet to download the game that is promised on the cartridge fully. Certain Nintendo Switch cases have a warning about this, and some do not.
This is what prompted Nintendo to want to be more transparent with their customer base. To do that, they now have a system in place for Nintendo Switch 2 that will use a special banner called the game key card. We can see what that banner looks like on the Nintendo Website.
What Does This Mean?
Nintendo likely did not do this for the consumer alone but also for ease of access for third-party publishers to be more likely to develop for Nintendo Switch 2. You see, we might make fun of Activision and EA for extremely large, unoptimized games due to their sheer size and caliber of assets in those games, but they do sell a large chunk. If we want something like Call of Duty on Nintendo Switch 2, the full game will likely not reach the 64 GB necessary for a full card. In this instance, Call of Duty now just needs a portion of the game on the cartridge and can let the player download the rest onto their console. (Similar to what PlayStation and Xbox already do). I am not the biggest fan of these game-key cards, but it is nice to know which cartridges will have the full game on it and which cartridges will be essentially just a license.
What This Does Not Mean!
Even though Nintendo is advertising the Game-Key Card banner, this will not mean that all Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges will be just a license on a cartridge. We already have reports that some games will have the full game on the entire cartridge, which you can see from even Mario Kart World itself.
Mario Kart World will have the full game on the cartridge because the box art does not have the game-key banner. Does this mean physical game enthuasists are going to be screwed over buying a Nintendo Switch 2? Not entirely. Yes, there will be more incentive for third-party publishers to forego putting full games on cartridges because there is a better system in place from Nintendo to do just that, but now you can figure out which games are on the cartridge and which ones are not. Will Nintendo utilize this game-key feature on their first party titles? Maybe certain ones like Breath of the Wild on Nintendo Switch 2 have banners that tell you what is on the cartridge, but they have not shown one yet that has a game-key banner.
Overall, it isn’t a bad idea to be skeptical of this game-key feature, but at the same time, don’t doompost thinking it will end physical media as we know it. Nintendo has been very good at keeping their first-party cartridges complete on Nintendo Switch, and the two that we know about that are launching close to Nintendo Switch 2’s launch also seem to be full games on the cartridge. I am pretty sad that Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster isn’t going to be complete on the cartridge, even though it is only an 11 GB game. That said, I am happy the game is much cheaper than the $70 price tag most other games are launching with the Nintendo Switch 2. I look forward to the release of the Nintendo Switch 2. I will most likely still get mainly cartridges for it, too.
Nintendo Switch 2 releases June 5th, 2025, and pre-orders for the console will be starting April 9th.
