Nintendo has confirmed that many of its first-party games, i.e., those developed internally, will not be available in physical Game-Key Card format.

The Japanese company claims that it has “no plans” to use Game-Key Card cartridges for in-house developed games designed for the Nintendo Switch 2, such as Mario or Zelda games. This information was confirmed by Nintendo to Nintendo Life. What exactly does this mean? Not everyone is happy about the Game-Key Card release, as this move by Nintendo can be described as austerity-like.

Physical versions of Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards are cartridges that can be purchased in stores or online, just like traditional physical versions of games. However, they are not copies of the purchased game. They contain no game data, only a code. The game can be installed on the next generation of Big N hardware via digital download. In other words, you can’t just pick it up and play it at any time without downloading it first (like Cyberpunk 2077, which made the news yesterday).

We’ve seen this with PlayStation and Xbox game discs, as well as with some Nintendo Switch games. With these games, only a limited amount of data is on the cartridge, and the rest requires a download. However, this doesn’t stop gamers from getting upset about Game-Key Cards. For now, at least, we can expect games like Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and the next 3D Mario game to be released as physical editions with cartridges that can be purchased in stores or online rather than as digital download keys.

Of course, this doesn’t mean Nintendo will stick to this in the long term. They may start sporadically selling cartridges later on, which would be a disadvantageous decision for the Japanese company in terms of game preservation. Many third-party publishers will certainly turn to Game-Key Cards.

Source: WCCFTech, Nintendo Life