Nintendo to maintain physical game support for Switch 2

Nintendo has confirmed it has no immediate plans to abandon physical game formats for the Nintendo Switch 2. Bill van Zyll, Vice President and General Manager for Nintendo Latin America, stated in an interview with the YouTube channel Coelho no Japão that the company remains agnostic, choosing to follow consumer preferences.

The Switch 2 will continue to support both digital purchases and physical releases. These physical options include traditional game cartridges as well as ‘Game-Key Cards,’ which act as physical access keys for digital downloads rather than containing the full game data. While the latter format has faced criticism from collectors, Nintendo acknowledged the strong interest fans have in physical media.

This announcement comes as the industry debates the future of physical ownership. Sony has previously indicated plans to move away from disc-based media for PlayStation consoles by 2028, a move that has sparked debate regarding digital licensing and consumer rights. Nintendo’s current stance positions it as a counter-trend to the industry's shift toward purely digital libraries.