Sega has shared a new FAQ for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds for the Switch 2, with big news for non-fans of Game-Key Cards.
The game will come in a 64 GB Game Card, and it will have the full base game in it. That makes it one of the few third party games that bowed out of joining the Game-Key Card club. Sega seems to have been fortunate that they had enough time to decide on this before bringing the game to the Switch 2, but it does seem to have had some consequences.
As you may have imagined, this meant that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will first launch on the Switch in holiday 2025, but only on digital. The Game Cards will be launching in early 2026, and we believe you shouldn’t be surprised if it won’t be out yet by January.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is also already scheduled to release on September 25, 2025 on the Switch, Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Since it’s also a ninth generation game, we presume the Switch 2 version’s release was set back to accommodate for this Game Card release.
The FAQ explains other details for the Switch 2 release. There will be a $ 10 upgrade pack from the Switch to the Switch 2, and that will carry over your save data and content.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will sell with a base price of $ 70, and the Digital Deluxe Edition will retail for $ 90. There’s nothing mentioned here about a special edition for the physical release, but we assume extra content will come in the form of codes, as they may no longer fit in the Game Card.
While Sega is a frequent partner of Limited Run Games, they did confirm that LRG will not offer a Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Collector’s Edition. There is a collector’s edition for Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox, but that has been sold out on all platforms.
Lastly, there will be cross-platform matchmaking, but that’s no surprise since Sega already promised that for other platforms.
Game-Key Cards have been controversial since they were announced, and there’s some speculation that they have already flopped at the launch of the Switch 2. Nintendo won’t confirm if that is the case, but they just launched a survey asking their loyal subscribers what they think.
Really, consumers shouldn’t be arguing with Nintendo to cancel Game-Key Cards. It’s third parties who wanted to publish games this way, so gamers have to convince them with their voices, if not their wallets.
