Ahead of Switch 2, Nintendo lays the groundwork for its local GameShare feature on the OG Switch in a huge new system update, but you can't actually use it yet

Nintendo Switch 2 hardware — (Image credit: Nintendo)

As Nintendo prepares for the upcoming release of its long-awaited new console, the Switch 2, the company has finally started rolling out functionality for GameShare – a game sharing feature that'll allow you to play certain games with friends and family via local wireless, even if you only own one copy of it.

The company first unveiled the exciting new feature at the beginning of the month during its wave of Nintendo Switch 2 news, introducing GameShare as a way for fans to "play together locally on multiple systems using just one game."

According to Nintendo, this would also apply to games that require more than one screen "if one person owns a compatible game." It wasn't just meant to work on the Switch 2, however.

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GameShare was said to allow for games to temporarily be shared "with others who also have a Nintendo Switch 2 or a Nintendo Switch system" – in other words, it's a feature that should work between both the original console as well as the new one arriving on June 5.

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Fans can finally get a first glimpse at GameShare now that it has its own dedicated icon on Switch 1 following a big new system update. The update, as detailed on Nintendo's official support page, adds two icons to the Switch's home menu. First is the Virtual Game Card, which is for any digital purchases, including both software and DLC. They are all "now virtual game cards and displayed in a list" in the Virtual Game Card menu.

Next is the GameShare icon, which Nintendo describes as allowing for "compatible software" to be "shared from a Nintendo Switch 2 system to other nearby system(s) to play together." The company also specifies that fans "can only play together via local wireless, and the Nintendo Switch 2 system must initiate GameShare." Unfortunately, it can't be used between two OG Switch systems, including the OLED and Lite, meaning the feature is totally unusable for now.

Other changes that have dropped with the system update include user-verification settings for the new Virtual Game Card menu, and the integration of system transfer to Nintendo Switch 2 ahead of the console's release.

Certain icon colors have changed, too, like the Nintendo eShop and Nintendo Switch News apps, and multiple save data files can be selected and transferred at once in the "Transfer Your Save Data" menu.

Here are some of the most exciting upcoming Switch 2 games to look forward to.

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After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.