Report: Smaller Switch 2 game card cartridges are coming, but they are slightly slower

Nintendo is reportedly manufacturing smaller Game Cards for the Nintendo Switch 2, however these ROM cartridges may be slightly slower than existing ones.

Report: Smaller Switch 2 game card cartridges are coming, but they are slightly slower
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Senior Gaming Editor
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2-minute read time
TL;DR: Nintendo will produce lower- and mid-capacity Switch 2 game cartridges despite earlier plans to offer only 64GB models. These smaller carts remain costly and slower due to flash memory limits and chip shortages, leading many developers to prefer digital Game-key Cards for better performance and cost efficiency.

Back in September, sources told Bloomberg that Nintendo was phasing out all Switch 2 ROM cartridges except for the expensive 64GB flash models. Now reports indicate that Nintendo has changed its mind and will start selling lower- and middle-tier capacity carts.

Report: Smaller Switch 2 game card cartridges are coming, but they are slightly slower 10
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Nintendo will reportedly produce lower-capacity Switch 2 game cartridges for developers. Sources have told Nintendeal that Switch 2 ROM carts less than 64GB in size are being manufactured, but there are some downsides that may deter game devs: The carts will still be expensive, because they're made out of similar flash memory, and they'll also be a bit slower than the 64GB models.

"I can confirm that smaller capacity Switch 2 game cards are in production but due to chip shortages it will take time before we see widespread availability. Despite the smaller capacity, these cards will still be expensive due to rising cost of materials. Game-Key Cards are not going away," Nintendeal said on Twitter.

If the report is accurate, we may not see many developers or publishers utilize the new cards, at least for modern AAA games.

The Switch 2 introduced Game-key Cards as a temporary fix. The cards are basically authenticators that do not hold any data, instead verifying a purchase and letting users download an entirely digital version of a game. This is more profitable for devs, because they don't have to buy the ROM cartridges with flash memory for their games--it's a cheaper upfront cost for devs.

The biggest reason why devs use Game-key Cards isn't convenience or cost, though--it's performance.

Square Enix's Naoki Hamaguchi says that the ROM Game Cards are just too slow, even with the Switch 2's new storage upgrades. While the Switch 2 itself supports SF Express flash, and while the console's storage supports up to 2.1GB/sec transfer rates, the actual data speeds between the game cartridge and the console aren't fast enough to meet developers' needs.

That being said, CD Projekt RED managed to get a solid version of Cyberpunk 2077 completely on the Switch 2's ROM cartridge.