One of the world’s largest libraries will not consider Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards for preservation. Japan’s National Diet Library, which contains over 9,600 video games in its archives, said that it won’t recognize titles in the Game-Key Card format because the games’ data are not located within the physical media itself.
Speaking to Famitsu (via Automaton), representatives from the National Diet Library said that since “a key card, on its own, does not qualify as content, it falls outside of [the library’s] scope for collection and preservation.”
Game-Key Cards solely act as authentication keys, allowing the user to download the full game onto their console when inserted. The card must remain in the system in order to play the game, despite the game being installed, but the card can be shared or resold. Several third-party publishers utilize the medium for their Switch 2 releases, including Capcom, which considers its Game-Key Card titles as digital sales.
