Update: Nintendo has now clarified that this is not the case. Please see here for more details, and we apologise for any confusion caused through our reporting.
One of the many small facts that has been picked up on since the Nintendo Switch 2 direct last week is that a physical Switch 2 Edition of an upgraded game for the new console won’t necessarily have a Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge inside the box.
While this decision will be down to the publisher, Nintendo’s chosen the route that a physical copy of Breath of the Wild: Switch 2 Edition or the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond with have a Nintendo Switch 1 cartridge and a download code for the Switch 2 Edition upgrade.
This has been confirmed by dummy packshot imagery distributed by Nintendo:
This decision has been widely decried by gamers that still champion physical media and the second hand market. Many have noted the similarity to online passes that were common in the early 2010s, which were partly designed to as a way to extract a toll from second hand game sales. This will have a similar effect, so that a second hand copy of a Switch 2 Edition game will need the buyer to separately purchase the Switch 2 Edition upgrade… at which point, you might as well see if a standard Switch version of a game is available for a lower price.
By contrast, it’s been confirmed that Rune Factory’s Nintendo Switch 2 Edition will be a Switch 2 specific card:
Additionally, there are a number of Nintendo first party games that will receive free updates to support the Switch 2’s increased power, typically in instances where there’s just a bump to resolution and frame rate with minimal extra work.
The one upside of Nintendo’s approach is that a physical Switch 2 Edition will be usable with both generations of console, but it is a shame that Nintendo hasn’t produced a cross-gen cartridge as well – in fairness, games might have textures and game data re-encoded for Switch 2, and so balloon the size of a combined game install.
However, this is in contrast to the cross-gen strategies of Xbox and PlayStation. Sony’s PS5-upgraded remasters have then had PS5-specific discs printed for the purpose, while Microsoft pushed hard with cross-gen Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One discs in many instances (though typically also requiring large game updates and downloads to actually install a game).
Speaking of which, it’s been confirmed that Switch 2 game cards won’t necessarily have a copy of the game on the card itself. These Game-Key Cards will be labelled on the box, and act as a physical license key to let you download a game to the internal storage. This honestly isn’t an uncommon sight to see with modern games on other platforms, where there’s been games like Halo Infinite where the disc is effectively just a license key. This is potentially preferable to the ‘Code in Box’ physical releases for Nintendo Switch, which include an eShop key to download, as there will still be trade-in value for the game.
Of course, all of this is a reminder of the impermanence of digital games, and there’s always the potential risk in years and decades to come that access is removed one way or another.
