Nintendo has announced some of the Nintendo Switch 2 games that will utilize a game-key card. These are cartridges that do not include the full game data, and instead, will initiate a download of the data to the Nintendo Switch 2 console.
The following Nintendo Switch games will utilize the game-key card system:
- Bravely Default HD Remaster
- Street Fighter 6
- Shine Post: Be Your Idol
- Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition
- Survival Kids
- Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition
The Nintendo website describes the game-key card concept for the Nintendo Switch 2 as follows:
Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don’t contain the full game data. Instead, the game-key card is your “key” to downloading the full game to your system via the internet.
After it’s downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card.
Nintendo also revealed the file sizes for some of the Nintendo Switch 2 games that will release within the first few months of the console’s launch. The console will have 256 GB of internal storage when it launches.
Nintendo held the Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 presentation to focus on the new system. While many first-party and third-party games will cost $60 and $70, certain games such as Mario Kart World will cost $80. The console will be available on June 5 for $450, and a bundle including Mario Kart World will be available at launch for $500. Pre-orders were initially set to go live on April 9, but that date has been delayed as Nintendo evaluates the potential impacts of recent tariffs in the United States.
