Nintendo Switch 2 game-key cards can be shared and resold

The post Nintendo Switch 2 game-key cards can be shared and resold appeared first on Android Headlines.

Apr 7, 2025 - 23:55

Summary: Nintendo has confirmed that Switch 2 games that launch as game-key cards won’t be tied to your Nintendo account. This will allow for the games to be resold, shared, and rented out. As the games will work in any Switch 2 that the game-key card is slotted into.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct revealed quite a bit more about the upcoming console, including the existence of game-key cards, which is a new system that Nintendo is using to replace digital download codes for games. On the Nintendo Switch family of devices, if you buy a non-physical copy of a game, you get a download code. That code then gets redeemed on your account, and you can download that game to your Switch.

The game also ends up being locked to your account. Meaning, it can’t be used on any other accounts. It’s essentially a one-and-done. With the new Switch 2 game-key cards, however, they won’t be tied to your account, allowing users to do more with those games. Like lending them out to friends, for example.

Nintendo didn’t share too many details about the game-key cards during its livestream event last week. In a recent interview with GameSpot on April 7, Nintendo’s Tetsuya Sasaki confirmed that game-key cards will be usable on any Switch 2 they’re slotted into.

Nintendo Switch 2 game-key cards will allow for sharing and reselling

This might be the biggest problem with digital games these days. There’s no real way to trade them in or resell them to recoup some of the initial purchase cost. You can’t lend them out to friends either. That will all change with game-key cards since they work in any Switch 2 you put them in. Say, for example, you buy a new game for the Switch 2 and you beat it in a couple of months. Now you’re done with it, and you have no interest in keeping it around.

If the game is using Nintendo’s game-key format, you could sell it to someone else. This will be good for game stores that sell pre-owned games, such as GameStop or single-location local stores. But it’ll also be good for users who want to try and get a little money back on something like Facebook Marketplace.

You will still need an internet connection to use a game-key card game. However, an internet connection won’t be required the entire time. Only when inserting the card for the first time when the game needs to be downloaded. From there, the games can be played in offline mode. You will, however, need to keep the game-key card in the system whenever you want to play it. Just like with a physical Nintendo Switch cartridge.

This system allows retailers to sell games that pass the storage capacity limit

Nintendo Switch 2 game cartridges can’t hold more than 64GB of files. So, to get around this, Nintendo came up with the game-key cards. This allows retailers to sell “physical” versions of games even if that game is more than 64GB. The game-key cards definitely help both retailers and consumers in the end, but it seems one of the main reasons Nintendo implemented it was to help out retailers.

That’s not really a bad thing, though. And it seems especially useful now with all of the games that will be ported to the Switch 2 from other platforms. Cyberpunk 2077 is by no means a small game. And it won’t be surprising if the Switch 2 version is larger than 64GB. In this case, Nintendo is probably using a game-key card. Final Fantasy VII Remake is another good example. It doesn’t seem possible for Nintendo to have shrunk the game down enough to fit into 64GB of files.

But Nintendo probably also wanted to make sure a physical copy of the game was available when it launches. The game-key cards will allow for this. The Nintendo Switch 2 is slated for release on June 5, and will have a variety of launch games available.

The post Nintendo Switch 2 game-key cards can be shared and resold appeared first on Android Headlines.