Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades of Switch 1 games are getting physical releases, but nobody's sure if these are Switch 2 cartridges or old games repackaged with digital upgrade codes

An array of of first-party Switch games are getting "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" upgrades promising a variety of graphical and gameplay updates. They're getting physical, retail releases, too, but Nintendo collectors have been faced with a lingering question: are these things coming on all-in-one Switch 2 cartridges, or are they simply repackaged Switch 1 carts being sold with digital upgrade codes?

On every piece of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition box art the company has revealed so far, there's a multi-language notice that the package "includes the Nintendo Switch game and the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade pack." There's also a QR code pointing you to a not-yet-available support page promising more information.

You can interpret that statement in a variety of ways, and the folks in places like the Switch Game Collectors subreddit are having some hefty debates over how to read it. For me? I'm pretty sure this indicates repackaged Switch 1 carts and digital codes, and that presents a notable dilemma for collectors. I guess it at least would mean we won't have to be tempted to repurchase the Switch 1 cartridges we already own.

We've reached out to Nintendo for further information and will update this story if we learn more.

Part of the appeal of collecting physical games is having an archive of a title to keep on your shelf which won't be beholden to any issues with digital downloads on whatever platform. And, certainly, we've seen that we can't count on Nintendo to keep its digital services alive. If, say, the Metroid Prime 4 box simply comes with a Switch 1 card and a digital code, that effectively means that there will be no physical Switch 2 version of the game, barring some future re-release.

Announced Switch 2 Edition games besides Metroid include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and the boxes for all of these games include the same notice. The only exception is the upgraded version of Pokemon Legends Z-A, which Nintendo simply hasn't revealed the box art for. Between this and the apparent price discrepancies between physical and digital games in certain regions, it might be a rough time ahead for physical game collectors.

Here are the upcoming Switch 2 games you need to know about.