Nintendo’s new system for sharing digital Switch games, explained

Switch players who buy their games on physical cards are used to being able to share those games with other players simply by handing them the card. Now, Nintendo is planning a process to allow players to share their digital Switch purchases in a similar way. The new "virtual game card" system—which Nintendo announced today ahead of a planned late April rollout—will allow players to "load" and "eject" digital games via a dedicated management screen. An ejected digital game can't be played on the original console, but it can be digitally loaded onto a new console and played there without restriction by any user logged into that system.

While an Internet connection is required when loading and ejecting digital games in this way, the Internet will not be required to play the shared digital game after that initial process is complete. And while both Switch consoles will need to be synced up via a "local connection" the first time such sharing is done, subsequent shares won't require the consoles to be in physical proximity. Nintendo's announcement says this virtual game card system allows players to "freely load and arrange which games you play on up to two systems [emphasis added]," suggesting you won't be able to share different games across more than one secondary console. For households with more than two Switch units, though, Nintendo says virtual game card lending will also be available across your Nintendo Switch "family group" accounts. But these "family" loans are limited to one game at a time (per group member) and only last for two weeks (after which the loan can be manually renewed).

The new game sharing system marks a significant change from the Switch's current digital game sharing process, which allows any number of "secondary" consoles to log in to access an eShop account's full digital library (as long as that library isn't in active use by another consoles at the same time). But that system requires a secondary console to be connected to the Internet for a check-in every time a game is loaded, limiting its usefulness when using the Switch on the go. The fine print in today's Nintendo Direct suggests that the current sharing system will continue to be available via an "Online-License Settings" menu that will let players "opt to connect to the internet to start-up software." For Switch players who aren't constantly tied to Wi-Fi, though, the new virtual game card system seems poised to simplify the process of sharing game downloads across more than one Switch console.