While we wait for the Nintendo Switch 2 release date, the company’s latest Nintendo Direct has revealed some new details about the upcoming handheld. The presentation took place today (March 27th), and there are a ton of new games to look forward to. From a Metroid 4 announcement to a new Rhythm Heaven game, there’s something for everyone coming to the Switch.

Aside from the new game announcements, there’s one thing that caught our attention – a new feature called Virtual Game Cards coming to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. If you have multiple devices between yourself, your friends, or family, this is an incredibly useful addition that isn’t too dissimilar to what we’ve seen Valve doing with Steam Families.

Nintendo introduces Virtual Game Card feature to Switch & Switch 2

After a slew of game announcements, Nintendo announced its Virtual Game Card feature, which is coming in a future system update in late April. This essentially turns any games you download digitally into their own game card on the system, which you can loan out to other systems or family group members linked to your Nintendo Account. In other words, you can share digital games in a similar fashion to how you would with a cartridge, just like old times.

“When purchasing the digital version of a game, it will be loaded onto your system as a Virtual Game Card, allowing you to play that title. Your digital games will be lined up as Virtual Game Cards on a dedicated management screen. Here, you can load and eject your Virtual Game Cards and manage which games you can play on your system.

If you have two Nintendo Switch systems, you can eject a Virtual Game Card from one and load it onto the second. Now you can play this game on the second system, wherever and whenever you want, just as if you had inserted a physical game card.”

Nintendo Direct

You can freely load and arrange which games are available between two systems. This connection has to be set up locally (wirelessly, at least), but is only required for first-time setup.

In addition to freely swapping between two linked systems, you can also lend Virtual Game Cards to your Nintendo Account Family Group members, which covers up to 8 different Nintendo Accounts. Again, this has to be done locally. You can only lend one game at a time per person for up to two weeks, after which they are returned to the original account.

Based on the presentation, we can only assume that the account lending the game out can no longer play it until it is returned to them, just like a real cartridge, without the risk of your friend losing it.

Nintendo goes on to explain that “the Virtual Game Card feature lets you swap games between Nintendo Switch systems as well as to Nintendo Switch 2 systems. This feature is planned to be added via a system update in late April”.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.