It looks like even some developers working withNintendoonSwitch 2games don’t consider the infamous Game-Key cards as physical releases, asCapcomseems to think of them as digital sales.
Despite beingone of the most anticipated console releases of all time and having sold like hot cakes since last week, the Nintendo Switch 2 has faced a surprising amount of controversy over the last few months.The high price of gamesand “lack of innovation” instantly jump to mind, but thebiggest issue for many has been the infamous Game-Key cards.
Game-Key cards areessentially access cartridges that let you download a game instead of having it installed on the cartridge itself. Basically, they’re the Nintendo equivalent of codes in a box, and they’ve been pretty disliked since they were revealed due tohow many third-party games are using them instead of offering a full physical release.
Capcom Thinks That Switch 2’s Game-Key Cards Are Digital Sales Too
Well… They Are
While gamers have made their thoughts on Game-Key cards very known since they were first announced, we don’t really know too much about what publishers and developers think of them. No one is likely to speak out about it any time soon, but a recent financial report from Capcom has at least given us some idea.
As reported by VGC, Capcom was recently asked in its most recent financial report whetherStreet Fighter 6, which just got ported over to Switch 2 as a launch title, would be recorded by the company as physical or digital sales. In response, Capcom confirmed that it considers Game-Key cards to be digital sales instead of physical.
Of course, it’s only Capcom who has said this so far, but it stands to reason that others will probably end up doing the same.
This is despite the fact that Game-Key cards are still sold in a box and contained on a cartridge, which means they’re technically physical retail products. That being said, they are basically just access keys that then let you download a game, so it’s interesting to see how someone actually making those Game-Key cards considers them.
It does show that, no matter how they’re marketed, publishers and developers are aware of what Game-Key cards actually are in the grand scheme of things. That sadly doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing any change with them, but at least now we know.
