Asked about concerns Switch 2 game-key cards could turn off players and third-party publishers, Nintendo president says the controversial cards were introduced since file sizes have gone up

Holding the Nintendo Switch 2 — (Image credit: Future / Nintendo)

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has acknowledged the backlash towards the Nintendo Switch 2's game-key card system, saying it was introduced because game file sizes are larger.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has had a fair amount of controversy surrounding it in the three months since it was properly revealed. While the pricing of games has been the big sticking point, Nintendo's game-key cards have been the subject to criticism, with many pointing out it's bad for game preservation.

These cards are effectively a digital download on a card, meaning there is very little data on the cart and you'll need to fully download the game even after popping the cart in your console. Pretty much every third-party title on Switch 2 that has a physical release was through these game key cards (except Cyberpunk 2077, which also happens to be the best-selling third party game on the platform).

This was brought up at a recent Nintendo shareholder meeting (via machine translation), as Furukawa was asked about the online reactions to game-key cards, with some finding that buying physical releases without the actual game data on the cartridge is unappealing. The same investor said they are worried that third parties will move away from the Switch 2 if key cards don't sell well due to these complaints.

Granted, there are multiple games currently on Switch 2 with file sizes that go over 59GB (which was the highest on Switch 1 thanks to NBA 2K24). Split Fiction comes in at 69GB, and the recently revealed WWE 2K25 is going to be 73GB on the system, so game-key cards make sense for the latter two considering the Switch 2 cards only go up to 64GB (although WWE is a code in a box anyway). However, 3.2GB Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S and 9.2GB Bravely Default don't exactly have the same excuse.

As for the worry of third parties possibly abandoning Switch 2 if game-key cards aren't selling, Furukawa noted that there are various ways for Switch 2 games to be sold, and that the company wants to discuss "various points" with publishers, ultimately striving for them to support the Switch 2 platform. It's rumored (due to an apparent Arc System Works leak) that Nintendo is only offering expensive 64GB cards or game-key cards to developers, so hopefully that could change if publishers kick up a fuss.

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