Nintendo Says No to Game-Key Gimmicks—for Now
Next-gen consoles and games have been transitioning into utilizing Game-Key Card features. This “feature” only gives gamers the license to access the full game rather than including the full game on a physical copy—basically, buying online with an extra step. Naturally, it’s caused a massive headache for gamers everywhere.
One standout headache? That would be Doom: The Dark Ages, the latest in the decades-old (and increasingly cranky) Doom franchise. Players who bought physical copies expecting to slay demons immediately were met with a surprise Pikachu face moment. The disc? It wasn’t the game—it was a key. A fancy, expensive key that required downloading a massive file over the internet just to play.
Yeah, demon slayers were not happy. Some even canceled their copies out of sheer frustration. But let’s save that drama for another day.
Nintendo Takes a Hard Pass
However! In a rare move that’s winning Nintendo some serious brownie points, the company confirmed it will not be using Game-Key Cards for its first-party titles. Yes, you read that right. Nintendo is not following the trend of giving you a box with a glorified download code. Instead, they’re sticking to full-on physical cartridges that actually include the whole game.
Doug Bowser, President of Nintendo of America, said physical games are still a “key part” of their business model, which is music to collectors’ ears. This move ensures that titles like Zelda, Mario, and Metroid will be playable straight out of the box, no extra downloads required (unless there’s a patch—because of course there is).
Third-Party or Large Games? That’s Another Story
Before you break out the party horns, know this only applies to Nintendo’s own games, but even then, there’s a small asterisk you need to pay attention to. While Bowser stated that physical releases aren’t extinct, that doesn’t mean that Nintendo can avoid Game-Key cartridges in the future. This is because some games have too much data to fit on the 64GB Switch 2 cartridges, so the transition for some games is inevitable if we want to play them.
Also, third-party devs and publishers? Yeah, they still get access to Game-Key Cards and can do what they like with them. So your favorite niche RPG might still come with a plastic smile and a download link. They are not beholden to Nintendo’s promise to keep physical copies a thing, so yeah.
Final Thoughts
In an era where physical media is slowly being devoured by digital-only launches and “just install it anyway” discs, Nintendo’s commitment to old-school game cartridges feels like a small win for gamers. Especially those who hate waiting 7 hours to download the thing they just bought, especially when the infrastructure isn’t too favorable for high-speed internet in some areas.  Here’s hoping other publishers take note—or at least give us the option of a real cartridge again.
