How to lend Nintendo Switch 2 Virtual Game Cards

Donkey Kong punching through rocks in Donkey Kong Bananza — (Image credit: Nintendo)

Virtual Game Cards on the Nintendo Switch 2 can be lent to other players, giving them temporary access to games you've downloaded, but there's a few steps involved before you can do that, and you can't do it without certain limits. However, it's a useful feature that means that household groups or close friends can share games that they've enjoyed with others, and I'll explain how to lend Virtual Game Cards to other Switch 2 players and consoles below.

How to lend Virtual Game Cards

Nintendo Switch 2 virtual game cards — (Image credit: Nintendo)

To lend a Virtual Game Card on your Switch 2 to another player, you need to do the following:

You'll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership to lend Game Cards. You can pay for these memberships by choosing the "Nintendo Switch Online" red icon on your Switch 2 dashboard, then scroll down to "Membership Options".
Set up a family group. You can do so online at your Nintendo Account by logging in and selecting "Family Group." If you're the group admin, your Family Membership should apply to all players within that family Group.
From that online page, you can invite other players with Nintendo Accounts to join the family group with links sent to their email address. Once sent, they have 24 hours to accept. A family group can have up to eight members, including the admin who set it up.
Once the person you want to lend to is in the group, go to the Virtual Game Cards option on the Switch 2 dashboard. You'll be shown a list of all the games you have Virtual Game Cards for.
Select the game you want to lend. Several options will come up – choose "Lend to Family Group Member", then "Select a User to lend to".
You will then be shown a list of all your Family Group members – choose the one you want to lend the game to. If their Switch is connected to the internet, they should be alerted that they now have access to the game!

There are several limitations on this lending system: The lender can lend up to three virtual game cards to different group members at once, and those who are borrowing the games may have one at a time, on a single console, for up to 14 days, though they can choose to return the card at any point prior to that.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.