Nintendo has unveiled a news system for sharing games between Nintendo Switch systems with the Nintendo Virtual Game Card.
Revealed as part of the Nintendo Direct on March 27, the Virtual Game Card will allow players to transfer games between consoles, share them with their family, and upgrade their digital library to the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 – just like a physical game card.
Image Credit: Nintendo
The Virtual Game Card Is Nintendo’s Biggest Move Towards Game Sharing
Explained during a handy info video during the Nintendo Direct, the Virtual Game Card is essentially Nintendo’s way of letting players transfer the digital copies of their game to new hardware. Previously, players would have to go through the rather arduous task of linking your Nintendo account to another device – not always easy or possible.
Now, games purchased with a Virtual Game Card will be able to be transferred between devices, acting like a physical version. This means you won’t be able to play on multiple systems at the same time, but will be able, for instance, to log on to a different Nintendo Switch and install and play your game super easily.
Beyond this, the preview also showed a new system for ‘Family sharing.’ This is something we’ve seen before with Valve’s Steam platform which allowed Steam Families, but Nintendo’s system works a little different.
Image Credit: Nintendo
Nintendo Switch Family Sharing
With Virtual Game Cards you’ll be able to ‘lend’ games to people within your Nintendo Family, which will allow up to eight Nintendo accounts to lend games between each other. Again, this won’t mean you can play the games simultaneously, instead you’ll be ‘lending’ the games, like with a physical copy.
Another boon of this new system will be that players with digital copies of their games will be able to port their digital games over to the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2. And since the Virtual Game Cards appear to be replacing digital copies wholesale, you’ll be able to transfer your entire library.
For Nintendo, a company not historically open to much game sharing (going so far as to attempt to prevent second-hand game sales), this seems to be a huge step forward. While it’s not exactly a DRM-free, shared gaming perfection, it’s a nice start, and something worth appreciating.