Virtual Game Card – Nintendo Direct 3.27.2025

Follow Nintendo of America

#VirtualGameCard #NintendoSwitch #NintendoDirect

[thelivingdrawing]

I like the implication that there are still people out there playing 1 2 Switch.

[unfocusedfr]

Nintendo featuring Miis in a trailer that isn’t even Mii-focused gives me so much hope

[lucina]

0:56
Ain't no one beating Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in 14 days

[windykingdom]

I think the Miis being featured was the ultimate foreshadow for the ending

[Nunbutvibesant]

I’m so glad Nintendo is finally implementing a form of gamesharing. Coming from someone who has multiple switch users in their house this is awesome.

[big-g-]

Now I can beg my friends to play the games they’ve had for years 😂

[Dracul_Kun_VT]

This looks like what your public library can do with digital copies.

[Chievesan]

0:41 Rest in peace nintendo gold points...

[stupidnintendo]

For anyone who is worried about the old method of family sharing, at 2:32 at the bottom, it says you can opt to use the old method instead if you want.

[WyssAJ]

Please let us loan them remotely. If I have a family member away for college for example, it would be nice to still be able to loan them games if they're in our family group.

[NightmareZXM]

I hope that after all this, you continue to make physical games for the people who enjoy them more than digital altogether

[antoninoelieserjfmagalhaes]

•April 28th, 2025: No news about Virtual Game Card. Maybe tomorrow or the next day.
•April 29th, 2025: Still nothing. Oh wait, it has been released!

[Rachael-n]

I like how the games are automatically returned to the owner after the due date.

[JediPacman]

This is one of the most confused comment sections I have ever seen. The point of this feature is for SHARING DIGITAL GAMES you have. Not physical games. The share LASTS FOR 2 WEEKS before whoever you shared it with loses access. It's a direct equivalent to letting your friend borrow a physical game card you have, but for a DIGITAL GAME YOU OWN.

It's not a way to transfer all of your games to your new Switch (unless you want to have to keep redoing the share every 2 weeks). It's not a replacement for physical game cards. It's also not something that will make install sizes smaller, because the full digital game will just be installed on the 2nd device like it is on the original device the game is on.

Edit: people corrected me about some important stuff I misunderstood. Sharing to a device you own has no time limit on the share and you can transfer back with no restrictions. It's sharing to a friend in your Nintendo Family that lasts 2 weeks. The other points still stand about it being for digital games and all though. Thanks for the info guys fr

[legend_]

For anyone that may be confused, this is my best understanding of this announcement.

This is essentially just allowing you to swap the license between two systems for games that you own on your Nintendo account. Right now, if you were to try and play a digital game on a secondary switch, it would need to verify your license by connecting to the internet. If you don’t have internet, you can’t play the game (again, this is only an issue for a switch that is registered as a secondary).

[EDIT TO THE ABOVE: I now think this is more of converting your games into virtual cards (yes, I know that’s the whole point), but you are *possibly* removing access to the game on one system if you load it onto another. As if you were removing a physical card. So you will need to make sure to “insert” the virtual cards onto the system you want to play the game, if it’s not already loaded there.]

Swapping the virtual card to that secondary switch will then allow you to open that game offline and anywhere.

This is also not a replacement for the current “game sharing” that we have now. As the disclaimer at the end states, “By navigating to your user settings -> online digital license (close enough) and turning the setting ON, you can opt to connect to the internet to start software.”

So I hope this is correct and clears up any confusion anyone might have.

EDIT: After discussing with some friends and reading other comments. There is a possibility this is an alternative to the current system we have of digital games. Cause as the disclaimer states, you’re opting in or out of the online connection for games. So you can make the choice to convert your games to virtual cards, or don’t change anything at all (obviously allowing you to toggle between the two in the settings). This is just another possibility.

Also, this is all my best guess with the information given, so I apologize if any information I have said proves to be false later on.

[Diabolid]

Thanks Nintendo, you ruin my brothers’ gaming, they played together splatoon 3 and Minecraft and now they can’t.

[figment]

This is actually good since it helps the one receiving the V-card preview a game.

[cassiuscartland]

2:18 I find it funny they have to state the color selection of switch lites may be limited

[dannyboots]

I like how the games automatically go back to the owner after the due date.

[lydiac]

And now my daughter is crying because she can no longer play Minecraft with her brother