• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Gameranx

Gameranx

Video Game News, Lists & Guides

  • News
  • Features
  • Platforms
    • Xbox Series X
    • PS5
    • Nintendo
  • Videos
  • Upcoming Games
  • Guides
  • News
  • Features
  • Platforms
    • Xbox Series X
    • PS5
    • Nintendo
  • Videos
  • Upcoming Games
  • Guides

Game Key Card System for Nintend Switch 2 Gets Called Out By Developer

May 6, 2025 by Todd Black

Will “nostalgia” allow them to “get away with it?”

You’d think that, after everything that’s happened in the last month, Nintendo would finally be “out of the doghouse” with some of the things it revealed last month about its new console. For example, the console’s new pricing actually isn’t that bad when you compare it to what Xbox recently did with its console’s price. Furthermore, the game prices themselves are at least understandable, especially when you note that they’re a variable system. Yet, the Nintendo Switch 2 is still under fire by some, and that includes being targeted by some developers who aren’t a fan of one key feature: the game key card system.

Very basically, this system for the Nintendo Switch 2, which is prominent on third-party games, will let you have a physical cartridge, but the cartridge itself is just a shell, or a “key” that you’ll need to use to download the full game off the internet. According to game director Alex Hutchinson, he doesn’t like it at all and thinks Nintendo’s merely “getting away with this” due to the “nostalgia” that they wield. He noted the following in a chat with VideoGamer:

“I hate it. I think it’s sort of lame. I don’t know, I just feel like it’s getting away… we’re losing some of what made the business special. Trading Game Boy cartridges at school, or, you know, DS for the modern audience. There’s something nice about that.

It’s funny that Nintendo is going to get away with it. It just shows you the power of nostalgia in our business that the way they will beat up Microsoft versus Nintendo is just not the same, especially in Europe. It’s like, ‘oh, Nintendo’s doing it, alright, we’re not gonna say much.’”

There’s plenty going on there, including some misinformation. Hutchinson is making it sound like every game on Switch 2 will have the game key card feature, but that’s not the case. In fact, it’s only 3rd party games that have this feature announced. That implies that it wasn’t Nintendo’s call to do this, but developers/publishers, as doing this actually saves them money on certain sides of the game dev process.

Second, the idea that “Nintendo is getting away with it just because it’s Nintendo” completely ignores the section of gamers who have been throwing hate at the new console, its pricing, and certain other features ever since they were fully unveiled last month.

Make of this what you will.

Share this post:

FacebookTwitterLinkedInPinterest

Recent Videos

20 Game Levels That Are LEGENDARY For A Reason

20 Game Levels That Are LEGENDARY For A Reason

This NEW Fallout Game Looks INSANE

This NEW Fallout Game Looks INSANE

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers - Before You Buy

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers - Before You Buy

Top 10 NEW Games of AUGUST 2025

Top 10 NEW Games of AUGUST 2025

20 Best ZOMBIE Games You Shouldn't Miss

20 Best ZOMBIE Games You Shouldn't Miss

10 Games That DESERVED Better

10 Games That DESERVED Better

10 WORST Games Where The Story ROCKS

10 WORST Games Where The Story ROCKS

CYBERPUNK 2077 PATCH 2.3 MAKES BIG CHANGES, FALLOUT 5 GREENLIT & MORE

CYBERPUNK 2077 PATCH 2.3 MAKES BIG CHANGES, FALLOUT 5 GREENLIT & MORE

Donkey Kong Bananza - Before You Buy

Donkey Kong Bananza - Before You Buy

Category: UpdatesTag: Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, nintendo switch 2

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Civilization 7: All Dai Viet Bonuses, Units, and Buildings | Right to Rule Collection DLC
  • Civilization 7: All Assyria Bonuses, Units, and Buildings | Right to Rule Collection DLC
  • Top Open-World Games with the Biggest Maps
  • Donkey Kong Bananza: All Banana Locations | Canyon Layer SL301
  • Donkey Kong Bananza: All Banana Locations | Canyon Layer SL300

Copyright © 2025 · Gameranx · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme