As Cyberpunk 2077 tops Switch 2 sales charts, one analyst says divisive game-key cards "aren’t a major issue" for most gamers and a Baldur's Gate 3 dev agrees

Game-keys cards have been pretty controversial since the Nintendo Switch 2 dropped. They're regular-looking carts that you get when buying a physical copy, but they don't actually contain the full game data. It's essentially a glorified download code in a box. But one analyst reckons that Cyberpunk 2077 being the only major third-party game to launch in a real cartridge didn't help its sales that much.

In case you missed it, Cyberpunk 2077 was the best-selling third-party Switch 2 game in the US. It's also, maybe coincidentally, the only major non-Nintendo game to avoid going the game-key card route. The entire 64gb game is on the Switch 2 cartridge if you pick it up physically - a decision CD Projekt Red calls the "right thing to do."

Of course, physical collectors saw this as an encouraging sign: game-key cards aren't selling as well as the one normal, all-on-cart game. Although, in a recent social media post, Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad says that's "not the full story."

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He goes on to explain that the Switch 2's launch mirrors the OG Switch in the sense that third-party games generally didn't sell that well unless they were a notable exclusive. Cyberpunk 2077's success isn't necessarily surprising, either, since it's the console's technical showcase and it's already more popular than the other third-party Switch 2 launch games (Street Fighter 6, Bravely Default) in terms of sales on other platforms.

"Mario Kart World (like with [The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild]) was the game to buy for Switch 2 with an ~80% attach rate," Ahmad continued. "Even with CP2077 being the best-selling third-party game, its attach rate and the individual attach rate of all third party games was less than 5%."

"In other words, Switch 2 buyers were satisfied with Mario Kart World and legacy Switch 1 titles at launch, and did not buy any of the other Switch 2 launch games in high numbers. Game Key Cards are maybe the 4th or 5th factor for why third party games didn't sell well... The reality is that key cards aren't a major issue in the grand scheme of things outside of enthusiast circles."

Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director Michael Douse also chimed in on the game-key card debate, writing that Cyberpunk 2077 sold well "because it's an incredible version and a debut for a system that launched with few third party games, and does the best yet to show what the Switch 2 is capable of for an audience who may not have hardware to play it on before then." Douse also said the cartridge only "nominally helped."

As a rabid physical game collector, I am happy to hear Ahmad predict more full physical Switch 2 releases in the future "once Nintendo ramps up manufacturing for cartridges and lowers royalty fees."

For now, keep an eye on these upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 games. Hopefully at least some of them will launch on the actual cart.