The announcement of Game Key Cards, something that will be happening on the Nintendo Switch 2, has been met with mixed reception. Game Key Cards are cartridges that don’t contain the full game. They are actually a “key” to digitally download the game. They can be physically inserted into the Switch 2 as if it were a physical game, but it isn’t actually a physical release of the game.
Nintendo‘s first-party offerings have been staying away from using any Game Key Cards, but third-party offerings have been a different story. Some games in the United States, such as Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition, are Game Key Cards. Not all of them are that way though. In Japan, however, that is unfortunately not the case. Switch 2 software pre-orders have gone live in Japan, and it has been discovered that all Switch 2 third-party games available for pre-order so far are Game Key Cards. It is unknown if these games will have the same fate in western regions.
