Nintendo will offer an alternative to Switch 2’s controversial Game Key Cards, dev claims

Nintendo is reportedly introducing smaller size options for Nintendo Switch 2 physical games, which could potentially reduce the number of games that opt to release on the controversial Game Key Cards.

Game Key Cards have attracted criticism since Switch 2 launched because they contain only a digital activation key for game titles, rather than any game data.

So far, the vast majority of third-party Switch 2 games are Game-Key Cards, with only a few exceptions, reportedly because only one card size is available to developers: 64GB.

However, this could soon change. X account Does It Play claimed earlier this week that Nintendo is planning to introduce two new card options for developers, 16GB and 32GB, potentially offering cheaper options for physical releases.

This was seemingly corroborated by developer ININ, which announced on social media that its upcoming R-Type title would now ship with the whole game on its Switch 2 card, after “Nintendo announced two new smaller cartridge sizes for Nintendo Switch 2”.

ININ said R-Type Dimensions III would thus no longer be released as a Game Key Card, but would retail for €10 more to account for “higher production costs”.

The developer later issued a “correction” that “there has been no official announcement or confirmation from Nintendo concerning cartridge storage capacities” and that “any references to specific storage sizes should not be interpreted as official information from Nintendo”.

“At this time, we can only confirm that our upcoming release R-Type Dimensions III will be on a physical cartridge. No further technical details regarding cartridge specifications have been officially confirmed,” it wrote.

Game preservationists have previously come out against Switch 2’s Game Key Card system, calling it “disheartening.”

Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios (which specialises in modern remasters of older, often out-of-print games) told GamesIndustry.biz in April that “seeing Nintendo do this is a little disheartening”, adding: “You would hope that a company that big, that has such a storied history, would take preservation a little more seriously.”