Nintendo Is Seeking Player Feedback On Game-Key Cards In Japan

Game-Key Cards, it’s safe to say, haven’t gone down too well with the Nintendo community.

With rumours heavily indicating that the only Switch 2 cartridge currently on offer to third-party developers is the full-fat 64GB model, the vast majority of games so far have arrived on Game-Key Cards. This means that you need to download the full game from the eShop upon insertion of the cartridge into the console.

Many have expressed their views online about Game-Key Cards, and it appears that Nintendo is, at the very least, conducting some of its own research over in Japan. As reported by SwitchSoku (thanks, VGC), the company has sent out a quick survey seeking player feedback on Game-Key Cards.

It’s pretty straightforward stuff: the survey simply attempts to gauge to what extent players are aware of Game-Key Cards and how they work, and whether such knowledge affects their choice of media. Essentially, it asks whether customers would rather buy games on a Game-Key Card or as a download.

Here’s a look at the three survey questions and their choices:

Did you know that Nintendo Switch 2 packaged software includes a game card called a “Game Key Card”?

• I own Game Key Card software
• I don’t own Game Key Card software but I know about it.
• I don’t know about Game Key Card software.

Do you know anything about the characteristics of the Game Key Cards? Please select all that you know.

• If you have downloaded the main game data, you can start playing without connecting to the internet.
• When playing the game for the first time, you will need to download the game data via the internet.
• Free space on the device’s internal memory or microSD Express card is required to download the main content.
• You can play the game on another console by downloading the game data and inserting the key card.
• You must insert the key card into the console to play the game.
• I never knew any of this.

After reading the above explanation, if you wanted to buy a piece of software and there was a Game Key Card or a download version available, which would you choose? Please choose the answer that applies.

• I want to buy Game Key Cards as much as possible.
• I would rather buy a Game Key Card.
• I can’t choose either.
• I would rather buy the download version.
• I want to buy the download version as much as possible.

It’s tough to know at this stage whether the survey results might affect Nintendo’s reliance on Game-Key Cards in the future, but we suspect that quite a few folks might tick the ‘I can’t choose either’ option on the last question.

Nintendo’s president, Shuntaro Furukawa, recently attempted to explain the company’s decision to introduce Game-Key Cards for the Switch 2 during the annual Shareholder meeting. He said it was down to the “larger game data sizes on Nintendo Switch 2 compared to Nintendo Switch”, which very much sounds like something to appease publishers and developers rather than the end user.

Big-name titles that have released as a Game-Key Card so far include Street Fighter 6, RAIDOU Remastered, Hitman: World of Assassination, and Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD.

Hypothetically, what would your answer to question three be in Nintendo’s Game-Key Card survey? Let us know with a comment down below.