Switch 2 Game Carts Are Just Fancy Download Keys Now—Is This the End of Physical Games?

So, imagine buying a physical Nintendo Switch 2 game, slotting it into your console, and being greeted with a… download screen. That’s not a bug. That’s the feature now. According to an official Nintendo support page, some games for the Switch 2—Nintendo’s shiny new next-gen handheld console hybrid—will arrive on what the company is calling “game-key cards.” These cards don’t contain the game itself, just a key that unlocks it via a download. Yep. A game cartridge that doesn’t have the actual game on it. Welcome to 2025.

So, What’s a Game-Key Card, Exactly?

Here’s how it works:

• You buy a game on a physical-looking cartridge.
• You insert it into your Nintendo Switch 2.
• It tells you to download the game from the internet.
• The card still needs to stay in the console to boot the game, mimicking the traditional physical game process.

It’s like buying a car, only to be told the engine’s online and you can only drive if you stay connected to the Wi-Fi. In fairness, it’s not totally new. Some previous Switch games already used this tactic—most often for massive third-party ports like L.A. Noire or NBA 2K. You’d get a physical case, but the cartridge was either just a key or required a sizable “day one” download to play anything. But with Switch 2’s “game-key card” language baked into the official system documentation, this isn’t just a one-off anymore. It’s a strategy.

Why Is Nintendo Doing This?

Let’s be honest: it’s probably a mix of storage limitations, cost, and logistics. The original Switch carts topped out at 32 GB. That might’ve been enough for your average Nintendo title (Kirby, we love you), but Cyberpunk 2077? That thing is already over 50 GB—and that’s without Phantom Liberty. Publishers either compress the heck out of their games, cut content, or force you to download half of it anyway. And since Switch 2 is expected to run full-blown AAA third-party ports? Yeah, something had to give.

Not to mention: manufacturing higher-capacity cartridges is expensive. Game publishers don’t want to shell out for larger carts when they could just offer a download key and let your internal storage do the heavy lifting. In other words: it’s cheaper for them, not better for you. The good(ish) news? Switch 2 has 256 GB of base storage, a massive upgrade over the OG Switch’s meager 32 GB. But even that will feel like a glorified USB stick once your library of 50+ GB games starts piling up.

Why Physical Media Fans Are (Justifiably) Annoyed

Look, if you’re one of those people still buying cartridges because they look cool and stack neatly on your shelf, this might feel like a betrayal. And you’re not wrong.

For many, physical games offer more than just plastic satisfaction:

• They’re sharable – Let a sibling borrow Tears of the Kingdom without giving them access to your account.
• They’re resellable – Trade them in, flip them online, or donate them like the old-school good Samaritan you are.
• They’re collectible – Steelbooks, alternate covers, holographic carts. It’s a whole culture.
• They’re “offline-proof” – No Wi-Fi? No problem. Unless your “physical” copy is just a key to the cloud.

Now, if that key ever becomes invalid—or if the servers go down—you’re out of luck. Which kinda defeats the point of “ownership,” doesn’t it?

What Happens When Servers Shut Down?

Let’s flash-forward a few years. The Switch 2’s successor is out. Nintendo’s decided to sunset its Switch Online servers. If your “game-key card” points to a download that no longer exists—what then? Will Nintendo offer a way to redownload those purchases? Or will they vanish like so many digital-only WiiWare titles did before them?

History doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

It wasn’t that long ago when losing your DS or 3DS meant losing everything you downloaded, since purchases were tied to hardware, not accounts. And even now, Nintendo’s eShop shutdowns (rest in peace, Wii U) remind us that nothing digital is truly forever. So if you thought physical games were your fallback for long-term preservation—yeah, not anymore.

Digital Dominance: The Bigger Industry Trend

Nintendo isn’t alone here. Microsoft practically tried this with the Xbox One a decade ago (and got roasted for it). Today, Xbox, PlayStation, and PC platforms alike all lean hard into digital-first experiences. Game Pass, PS Plus, Steam, Epic Games Store—it’s all about subscriptions, cloud saves, and instant downloads. Even Sony’s upcoming PS5 “Slim” has a model without a disc drive. So in a way, Nintendo’s shift to partial-download cartridges is just another step in the same direction. The difference? They’re still giving us the illusion of physical media… while slowly taking it away.