Nintendo digital lending feature reveals ‘Switch 2 Edition’ games are on the way

Nintendo has revealed something new about Switch 2 games on a day it wasn’t planning to talk about the new system. After today’s Nintendo Direct stream, the company revealed the existence of “Switch 2 Edition” games on its webpage about the new Virtual Game Card lending system, VGC reports.

The Virtual Game Card system launching next month lets you share your digital games between family members, giving the games similar benefits to physical cartridges that you could already swap between systems. However, Nintendo’s fine print gives away something else (emphasis ours):

Compatible systems must be linked to a Nintendo Account to use virtual game cards. Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games can only be loaded on a Nintendo Switch 2 system.

It’s no surprise that Nintendo Switch 2-specific titles won’t work on older systems; however, this mention of “Switch 2 Edition” games gives insight into Nintendo’s plans to differentiate original Switch and (likely graphically enhanced) Switch 2 titles of the same name

Although Nintendo says Switch 2 will have backward compatibility with older titles, it’s unclear exactly what Nintendo has planned here. Nintendo could follow PlayStation and Microsoft, where PS4 games could get upgraded to “PS5 Enhanced” versions, and the Smart Delivery system downloads system-specific versions depending on if you’re using Xbox One or Series X / S. Or it could have separate enhanced” versions of games that work better on the Switch 2 and are sold separately.

We won’t have to wait long to find out how “Nintendo Switch 2 Edition” games really work, as the company’s Switch 2 Direct presentation is happening on April 2nd.