During the March Nintendo Direct, Nintendo introduced a new feature called 'Virtual Game Cards'. This feature will be available by the end of April 2025 with a system update, providing players with much more flexibility in how they access, manage, and share digital games across Nintendo Switch consoles, including the Nintendo Switch 2.

What are Virtual Game Cards?

In short, Virtual Game Cards are digital versions of physical game cartridges. Each digital game you own turns into a card that you can extract, download, move between systems, or transfer to another person. It's a convenient way to manage digital games like physical objects—with full control over where and how your library is used.

How do Virtual Game Cards work?

Virtual Game Cards appear in a separate menu on your system, where you can "download" or "extract" a game just like a physical card. Once a virtual card is extracted, it can be downloaded onto another compatible console and played on it, even without an internet connection (after the initial download).

This is a significant improvement over the previous digital sharing system, where only the primary console could run the game offline, and a secondary one required a constant internet connection.

Virtual Game Cards are managed through a special screen in the HOME menu on your Nintendo Switch. The new interface allows you to:

• View your digital library as cards
• Extract a card from one system
• Download it onto another
• Transfer the game to a member of your Nintendo Account family group

Once a virtual game card is downloaded onto a console, it behaves like a physical cartridge:

• The game is available offline
• Other profiles on the system can also play it
• You cannot play it on another console until you move the card back

An internet connection is required to download or extract a card. But once downloaded, the game works without a connection.

How to use Virtual Game Cards

To use Virtual Game Cards, a player must have two consoles linked to the same Nintendo account. After a one-time pairing via local wireless connection and internet, games can be freely transferred between devices.

This pairing needs to be done only once, after which usage becomes as convenient as possible. Switching games between systems mimics the process of removing a physical cartridge from one console and inserting it into another. If a virtual card is loaded on Console A, it cannot be launched on Console B until it is extracted and transferred—and vice versa.

Managing cards on two systems

If you have two Switch consoles (such as a Nintendo Switch and Switch 2), you can link them via a local network + internet (only during the first setup). After this, you can freely move Virtual Game Cards between them:

1. Extract the card from System A
   
   
2. Download it onto System B
   
   
3. Start the game after data loading

Note: Games exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 can only be downloaded onto this system. Most other digital games will be compatible with the new console.

Will all games support Virtual Game Cards?

Not all games will be supported, but the vast majority will. Demos and some exclusive games for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will not be available in virtual card format. Compatibility will also depend on the console model. For example, games exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2 will only work on that system and not on original Switch models.

However, it is expected that most existing digital games, including major titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Bros. Wonder, will be automatically converted into Virtual Game Cards after the system update.

Details on the operation and use of Virtual Game Cards on Nintendo Switch

Nintendo is also extending this feature to family sharing through the Family Group system in the Nintendo account. Members of a family group, which can include up to eight users, can borrow a Virtual Game Card for up to 14 days.

The process involves selecting a game in your library, connecting to another family member's system via local wireless connection and internet, and then initiating the borrowing process. After this, the game disappears from the lender's console and appears on the borrower's device.

After the term ends or upon early return, the game automatically returns to the owner. The borrower's saves remain, so they can continue the game from the same spot if they borrow the game again or purchase it.

One of the key benefits of this system is that it eliminates the restrictions that were inherent in the old digital sharing model. Previously, only the primary console could seamlessly run digital games.

If you wanted to play a game on a second console, you needed to be online constantly, and only the account owner could launch it. With Virtual Game Cards, any account on the console can play the downloaded game, eliminating many inconveniences and making digital games truly accessible to the entire system.