Nintendo is paving the way for the Switch 2

As Nintendo explains it, these virtual cards work a lot like physical cartridges. You can “eject” a game from one device and then load it onto another, so long as the second Switch is tied to your account or a member of your family plan. Digital games “can also be lent to a Nintendo Account family group member’s system via local wireless connection,” and they’ll be able to play the game for two weeks before it’s automatically returned to you.

It’s an extremely Nintendo feature, in that it’s a playful attempt at bringing traditional physical game features into the digital realm, and that it also has some caveats, like the limited two week period, which is nowhere near enough time to make a dent in Tears of the Kingdom. Still, it seems to be a step up from the way sharing currently works, where a secondary Switch can only play games if it’s connected to the internet to verify things, rendering it largely useless while traveling. Nintendo specifies in the fine print that “once a virtual game card is loaded to a system, not only can you play it without an internet connection, but other user accounts on the system can play, too.”

More interesting than the feature itself is the timing. It’ll be available as part of a system update for the Switch at some point in April. Also happening in April? The big Nintendo Direct where the company will reveal actual details of the Switch 2, presumably including the price, release date, and line-up of launch games. Expectations are it won’t be much longer after that before the Switch 2 finally launches.

And it’s a library that keeps growing: there are still major Switch 1 games in the works for this year, like Metroid and Pokémon Legends: Z-A, while the just-announced Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream doesn’t even launch until 2026. In the press release announcing the virtual game cards, Nintendo made sure to note that they “will also work with Nintendo Switch 2 systems at launch.”

Nintendo has always had a complicated relationship with the internet and user accounts (see: Friend Codes). But the new virtual card system at least makes it clear that the company sees the importance of creating a more unified system for users to play things across devices. Because whenever the Switch 2 does launch later this year, there’s going to be a whole lot more people with multiple consoles in their homes.