The launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 was marred with controversy when it came to how the console dealt with physical media. A lot of games, including some first-party titles, came with download codes, despite shipping with proper boxes with cartridges inside. Others skipped a physical release entirely. That might be about to change soon, as reports of a smaller capacity Game Card for the Switch 2 have started floating around.
For context, Nintendo currently offers only two solutions for physical releases: a costly 64GB Game Card that's interface-limited to only 400 MB/s, or a Game-Key Card that will take you to the Nintendo e-Store to download and install the game digitally. Neither of these are wholly ideal, so a middle ground has been desperately needed for a while.
A few days ago, the publisher behind R-Type Dimensions III, Inin Games, announced on their website that their new game will be able to get a physical release because Nintendo is starting to offer smaller capacity cartridges. That statement has since been reworded to remove this specificity, and now just says that the game will cost 10 EUR more because of the extra production costs associated with Game Cards.
Later, Inin Games posted a statement on X admitting that they perhaps shared more than what the console maker liked, and apologized for the corporate snafu. In particular, they clarified how the announcement from earlier shouldn't be interpreted as Nintendo speak, and that any updates on Game Card specs haven't yet been officially confirmed.
Hence, we don't have any officially confirmed details, but we can assume these smaller capacity cards likely refer to 16GB or 32GB iterations of the existing 64GB cartridge. That should alleviate some of the cost and allow devs (especially indie ones) to consider physical releases. Though, with rising NAND prices and industry-wide shortages, it's hard to say how beneficial that would really be in the real world.
I can confirm that smaller capacity Switch 2 game cards are in production but due to chip shortages it will take time before we see widespread availability Despite the smaller capacity, these cards will still be expensive due to rising cost of materials Game-Key Cards are not going away
— @nintendeal.com (@nintendeal.com.bsky.social) 2025-12-21T12:39:47.309Z
That brings us to today, when popular leaker Nintendeal revealed on Bluesky that Game Cards with smaller storage sizes are indeed in production, but they will face delays due to the ongoing component crisis caused by AI. For the same reason, they won't be cheaper to produce, either.
The new reality we live in, therefore, sort of renders this development useless but, hey, Nintendo didn't create this mess and likely couldn't have seen it coming. On the other hand, microSD Express cards that can boost your Switch 2's system storage are also experiencing unprecedented demand, with many stores completely sold out in Japan, for example.
There is a silver lining to this, and that's that Game Cards are at least not going anywhere. In an era of omnipresent slop and the decay of everything analog, tangibly holding the thing you own — like a movie on Blu-Ray, or a game on a disc (well, catridge) — has become increasingly special. So, it's good to know that the choice is still there and digital hasn't completely taken over yet.
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