Assassin’s Creed Shadows Switch 2 Version Detected at French Retailer

News about a port of Assassin’s Creed Shadows for the Nintendo Switch 2 has resurfaced after a product page appeared early on the French retailer Auchan website, showcasing a physical version of the game for Nintendo’s latest console. However, although the box looks like a typical physical release, the product does not come with a traditional cartridge — instead, it features a Game-Key Card label.

What does the product listing show?

The leaked product page shows the physical packaging of the game, but the image only displays a box labeled Game-Key Card. This suggests that the purchase will include a download code (digital key) — not a cartridge containing the full game files.

Why not use a regular cartridge?

There are several technical and economic reasons why the Game-Key Card format makes more sense for a title like Assassin’s Creed Shadows:

• Very large installation size. The estimated installation size of the game ranges from 100GB to 123GB, depending on the platform and game version.
• Current cartridge capacity limits. The largest Switch 2 cartridges currently produced can only hold up to 64GB, far below the game’s requirements.
• Compression limitations. Although developers can reduce texture quality or use more aggressive compression, fitting the entire game on a 64GB cartridge is likely still impossible without significantly compromising the experience.
• Loading speed. Games running from the Switch 2’s internal flash memory offer faster loading times compared to reading from a cartridge, so distribution via download code + internal installation can improve performance.
• Production cost. Game-Key Cards are cheaper to produce than large-capacity cartridges, an important factor for third-party publishers.

The shift to the Game-Key Card format indeed has technical and logistical advantages but also draws criticism from the community. Some points frequently highlighted by fans include:

Concerns about digital ownership — buyers receive a code to download, not a complete physical copy that can be owned forever without reliance on digital services.

Inconvenience for users who want to keep a physical copy or play without large installations, as well as potential issues if activation servers or digital stores experience outages.