I have multiple Switches in my house, and a family account for everyone, too. Sharing games is incredibly annoying, at least for digital purchases: If someone has a different Nintendo Account, it means buying a new copy. But that's changing, sort of, with Virtual Game Cards. The news, announced at Nintendo Direct just a week before a streaming Switch 2 reveal on April 2, could be a big deal for my home, and probably yours, too.
Read more: The Biggest News From Nintendo Direct, March 2025
I'm used to sharing digital content with my family: We share iTunes purchases and Kindle books. Virtual Game Cards look like they'll be managed as card-like icons that show up on your Switch and can be sent locally between Switch systems, either to use or borrow.
According to Nintendo, two Switches can exchange a digital game via local connection (for the first setup, and then it looks like just an internet connection is needed for both Switches for the transfer), "ejecting" the game and loading it on the other system. This solves an annoying thing on current Switches where only one Switch can be made the "primary" device. Right now, for instance, I have several Switches with my Nintendo Account on them, but I can only play games offline on one of them. The others have to be online to authenticate the game. Nintendo's getting rid of this, at least between two Switches.
The other part of Virtual Game Cards involves loaning out between members of the family. This feature looks like it works the same as far as locally transferring the digital came card file, but the game can only be borrowed for two weeks. After that, the file will be "returned" to the original Switch. Game save data isn't lost, so the game could be reloaned to refresh the borrow.
This doesn't help with multiplayer games, though. Only one player can play a copy of the game at a time, so games like Splatoon 2 and 3, or Mario Kart, would still require a second game purchase to play across two systems at once.
The Virtual Game Card icons will generate for digital games you own, and be managed on a new part of the system software.
The whole development is still welcome news, and it suggests a new approach to digital games ahead of the Switch 2 launch. But it doesn't solve all my problems. I would have preferred a way to share games perpetually across all family members, or at least purchasing a lower-cost license to do that. The limited two-Switch limit on playing games offline on one account is better than before, but anyone with more Switches on one account will still have to juggle.
But it does show that Nintendo is trying to change the way new customers move over to the Switch 2. Previously, new console setups involved annoying redownloads and authorizations, including reassigning which Switch was "primary." Virtual Game Card support arrives late April, ahead of the Switch 2, which should mean that setting up a Switch 2 and moving digital games over might be an easier process than it was before. I'm still curious how it all works, and what the limits truly feel like, but for that we may need to wait until the end of April to test.