Fans who pre-ordered the Switch 2 in Japan were struck by an unhappy truth.
Gematsu summed up what everyone has been talking about online:
“Switch 2 game pre-orders have been up in Japan for a few hours, revealing all physical third-party games (so far—except Cyberpunk 2077) that are not “Nintendo Switch 2 Editions” to be shipping on game-key cards (requires internet to download the full game).”
Gematsu also shared a picture of Japanese third party games that were clearly labeled as Game-Key Cards. They include the following:
- Suikoden I & II HD Remaster
- Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition
- Shine Post: Be Your Idol!
- Wild Hearts S
- Survival Kids
- Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster
- Kunitsu-Gami Path of the Goddess
- Ryu Ga Gotoku 0 Director’s Cut
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S
- Daemon X: Machina Titanic Scion
- Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army
- Sonic X Shadow Generations
- Street Fighter 6
However, it must be noted that there are certain exceptions and differences, even for the same game in different region. For example, Daemon X: Machina Titanic Scion is a complete game in cartridge in the US, even as it was revealed to be a Game-Key Card for Japan. As this fan has pointed out, Cyberpunk 2077, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma are the only other 3rd party Switch 2 games that are confirmed to contain the full game in the box.
But then, Gematsu shared a follow up that really puts things into perspective. They said this:
“Ys X: Proud Nordics and No Sleep for Kaname Date are also game-key cards in Japan. And retail descriptions for Split Fiction list it as a code-in-a-box.”
It is great that Split Fiction is coming to Switch 2, and also has multiplatform Friend’s Pass. It’s even better that it uses GameShare so you can share the game with a Switch user. But we have to reckon that Hazelight decided not to make a physical version of Split Fiction available for the Switch 2, at least in Japan. It makes one wonder if the game will also only be a download code in a box in the US and the rest of the world as well.
And therein lies the rub. For as much as fans have debated that Game-Key Cards are worse or better for video game preservation and ownership, the reason Nintendo came up with Game-Key Cards in the first place may not be going away, even on the Switch 2. Maybe Split Fiction is a special case, because of Friend’s Pass, or because EA just had to make different arrangements to do business in Japan. But it won’t be great if Game-Key Cards won’t actually do away with Switch 2 physical releases that are only download codes in boxes.
Ultimately, the marketplace will make their own assessments of what to make of Game-Key Cards, as this unique scenario where digital games can finally be resold or given away multiple times. Maybe Nintendo can assuage consumer fears by making arrangements so that when a game gets delisted, the final Game-Key Card owner has a chance to claim the game for their Nintendo Account. But then again, we wouldn’t be surprised if 3rd parties experiment with higher priced 100 GB cartridges somewhere down the line too. As of right now, we don’t think the verdict is out yet on how Game-Key Cards will be viewed by consumers, especially the ones who do things like play a new Call of Duty and do away with the last one every year. So we’ll see how it goes.
