Switch 2 owners can borrow, resell, and use Nintendo’s game-key cards

Following the reveal of Nintendo’s new game-key cards during its Nintendo Switch 2 event last week, we’re finally getting more details about why they exist and how they can be used. Although they don’t contain a physical copy of a game, Nintendo’s Tetsuya Sasaki explained to GameSpot that game-key cards aren’t permanently tied to a specific Nintendo account. The games can be inserted and played on any Switch 2 console, allowing them to be borrowed, rented, and even resold.

“So key cards will start up on the console or system that it is slotted into, so it’s not tied to an account or anything,” said Sasaki.

That behavior is different from the Switch games that Nintendo currently sells in retail locations, which feature a download code instead of a physical cartridge. Those codes can only be used a single time and are connected to a specific Nintendo account, preventing them from being resold at a later date.

Game-key cards automatically trigger a game download when inserted into a Switch 2 console. Once the game is downloaded and installed, an internet connection “…is only required when you launch the game for the first time,” according to a support page on Nintendo’s website. After that initial launch check the game can be played without an internet connection, as long as the game-key cartridge is still inserted into the console.

The game-key cards are an unusual format that merges digital game downloads and physical cartridges without quite solving the downsides of either format. Internet access is still required to download the games, and you still need the cartridges to play them. But as Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser explained to The Verge, the game-key cards primarily benefit publishers, allowing them to sell physical copies of games at retail locations that may exceed the 64GB capacity of regular Switch 2 game cartridges.