With the launch of the Switch 2, Nintendo introduced the game-key cards, and with them a lot of confusion. This guide aims to explain what they are, how they work, and what's their use-case.

What Are Switch 2 Game-Key Cards?

Those are "blank" cards that don't contain any games on them. Rather, they have a "key" of sorts that allow you to download the game you paid for from Nintendo's store. All the games using it are easily marked at the bottom of the game cover, as demonstrated in the image below.

They ARE NOT a replacement for the existing game cards. Nintendo is still putting their games on cards fully. This is more for third part publishers that won't/can't pay for a larger storage card to put these games on, and instead sell empty boxes with a download code on it.

"Well, then Nintendo should force them to put the whole game on the card", I hear you say. They could, but then developers would simply not release a "physical" version at all. Besides, while doing this is not excusable for big publishers like Ubisoft or Square Enix, it helps indies put their games on shelves and get just a few more sales. The game keys are an ok compromise.

How Do They Work?

When you insert the card into your Switch system, you'll be prompted to download the game from the store. Once that happens, you'll be able to play the game as normal, but you'll have to have the key card inserted into the console to use it.

What’s the Point of This?

So you're probably wondering what this adds over a normal digital game. The obvious answer is being able to lend or sell those games to someone else. Assumedly, once the card is inserted into another system that belongs to someone else, the key gets associated with their account. 

Frankly, Nintendo should allow regular users to buy empty ones and let them "put" their games on there. They already announced Digital Cards, so finding a way to link the two shouldn't be too hard. It obviously won't happen, but one can dream.

One issue that could come from this whole thing is with the game license. Removing the game key from your system could cause problems if you try to purchase it digitally later because the system sees you already own it. This has been an issue with PlayStation owners and PS Plus games. We'll have to see how Nintendo implemented the whole thing.

What do you think of game-key cards? Do they serve a purpose, or are they a waste of plastic? Let us know in the comments below!