"Bloomberg reports some backroom grumblings ahead of Tokyo Game Show 2025 this week regarding the health of game development in Japan and also, interestingly enough, anecdotal frustration with Nintendo's game key cards for the Switch 2. It also confirms that Nintendo currently only offers 64GB sizes for all games, which increases the cost and appears to be the primary reason so many third-party publishers are opting for the plastic DRM keys instead."
"Bloomberg points to the recent example of Daemon Ex Machina: Titanic Scion. "In the UK, it was released as a standard physical cartridge, ready to play straight out of the box. According to Nielsen IQ, 72% of physical sales in the UK were for the Switch 2," it reports. "In Japan, however, it was sold as a key card, and the results were reversed. According to Famitsu, only 40% of sales were for the Switch 2.""
"Did Sega just completely change the spirit of Yakuza 3 by recasting its lead in the remake? Does Silent Hill f really look prettier without fog? And when will Nintendo finally support smaller SD express card sizes and ditch those dreaded game key cards? It's another edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku's daily roundup of gaming news and culture. Fed chair Jerome Powell says tariffs aren't driving up inflation just yet"
Nintendo currently offers only 64GB Switch 2 cartridge sizes, raising manufacturing costs and prompting many third-party publishers to issue cheaper plastic DRM "key cards" instead of full physical cartridges. Bloomberg notes industry concern about game development health in Japan and cites the Daemon Ex Machina: Titanic Scion example, where cartridge releases boosted Switch 2 sales in the UK but key-card releases depressed Switch 2 sales in Japan. Nintendo surveyed fans about key cards. Some publishers say mandatory downloads tied to key cards can improve performance for demanding games. A Yakuza 3 remake recast its lead, and Silent Hill f visuals without fog are under debate.
#switch-2-game-key-cards #physical-vs-digital-distribution #japanese-game-development #yakuza-3-remake
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