Making a real Switch 2 cartridge instead of a game-key card was "not an easy decision" for the Rune Factory publisher, but "building up goodwill with our fans is always a good investment"

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Marvelous USA is one of the few Switch 2 publishers outside of Nintendo stick with proper retail cartridges

A character shouting while holding a sword during the upcoming PC game Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma.
(Image credit: Marvelous)

Many third-party publishers are taking advantage of Nintendo's game-key card option for their Switch 2 titles, a fact that's causing no shortage of consternation to physical game collectors. One exception is Marvelous USA, the publisher behind Rune Factory and Story of Seasons, but it was apparently a tough decision to go with proper physical cartridges.

"It was not an easy decision," as Marvelous USA co-founder, president, and CEO Ken Berry tells RPG Site, "as it had to be made many months ago when things were very uncertain and we were still learning about how the Game Key Card option worked, but the more we found out about it the more I thought our fans would much prefer the ROM option."

"As a big fan of physical I’m always disappointed when I open a case and only the disc or game card is in there, while building up goodwill with our fans is always a good investment," Berry says.

It's important to distinguish Marvelous USA here, as Marvelous in Japan is not so fully committed to proper cartridges – the Japanese version of the new Daemon x Machina is already set to come on a game-key card, after all.

"Though I’d love to say all Switch 2 releases from us in the future will go the full ROM route, nothing is guaranteed," Berry says. But he adds that strong sales for Marvelous USA's lineup on physical media could help make the case for the publisher to keep following through.

Dustin Bailey
Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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