Nintendo Surveys Japanese Players About Game Key Card System on Switch 2

The Game Key Card is essentially a physical card that only contains a digital activation key, without the game data itself. Players still have to download the entire game content via the internet, then insert the card each time they want to play. The only main difference from pure digital purchase is the ability to resell the card and transfer it to another Switch 2 console without needing the Virtual Game Card lending feature.

So far, most third-party titles for Switch 2 come in the Game Key Card format, except for some titles that use larger storage capacity. This is due to the availability of physical cards only sized up to 64 GB for developers, making it difficult for large-sized titles to fit on a single card.

The survey consists of several parts. First, Nintendo asked whether respondents were already aware of the Game Key Card. Second, they asked specific knowledge about the card’s characteristics, such as the need for internal or microSD storage space, the requirement to download the main data before playing, and the obligation to insert the physical card every time the game is played. Finally, participants were asked to choose their preference between buying the Game Key Card or the digital download version.