Virtual Game Cards Are Nintendo’s New Way to Share Switch Games Digitally

Nintendo Switch firmware update 20.0.0 just went live, allowing players to share games more easily with other console owners. Virtual Game Cards is the new catch-all term for anything digital you can swap from one console to the next, covering downloaded games, free software, or even pieces of DLC (additional game content). This new update makes it easier to share your downloaded games with other people, though they need to be near you, so no sharing with friends over the internet.

Ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch on June 5, this could be one of the last software updates for the original Switch before its successor is released.

Until Tuesday, if you wanted to share a digital version of a Nintendo Switch game with a friend, it wasn’t easy — you had to designate one as your Primary Switch and the other as Secondary. The major downside here was that only the Primary user could play the shared game when offline, and the Secondary always needed to be connected to the internet to play.

But now Nintendo has a new system to lend out digital games. Shareable software are now represented by Virtual Game Cards, which alleviates some of this hassle by sharing full access to the game with the new user. Updating to the new Switch firmware will give users the new Virtual Game Cards icon on their home menu. From there you can select the game (or DLC) you want to share.

Read more: I Played All the Switch 2 Games: What to Look Forward to After April 24 Preorders 

You have two options for how to share the game. The first is Load on Other System, which requires the second Switch to be linked to your main one. This is similar to the original Primary/Secondary system where you had to have your Nintendo account set up on both devices to share between.

The second option is Lend to Family Group Member and utilizes the family group you may have set up with a Nintendo Switch Online Family Plan. To do so, you need to bring the two Switch consoles close together to link them. 

There are some important limitations to keep in mind when using the Lend to Family Group Member option. The first is that Virtual Game Cards can be borrowed for up to 14 days, after which they’ll be automatically returned to the lending system. It also means that the original system will not have access to that game/DLC while being loaned out. Lastly, players can only lend one Game Card per borrower, up to three borrowers at a time, and a borrower can borrow only one Game Card at a time. So you can’t fill up your Switch with borrowed games from your family members.

It remains to be seen how much more beneficial this system will be compared with the previous version. While this does allow borrowed games to be played offline, unlike before, it also prevents multiple people from each playing a copy of the same game at the same time. This seems like Nintendo is getting its console ready for the eventual launch of the Switch 2 by adding more robust game sharing functionality.