Japan's National Diet Library has said that Nintendo Switch 2 game-key cards will not be eligible for preservation by the library.
As exciting as the Nintendo Switch 2 is, the third party game situation is a bit dire. Outside of rare cases like Cyberpunk 2077, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds, and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, pretty much every third party game on the platform has been released as either a code in a box or one of Nintendo's new game-key cards which act as a key to download the game from the eShop.
So far, the likes of Capcom, Square Enix, and Sega (with CrossWorlds being the sole anomaly here), have made all of their releases on the platform a game key card leading to concerns about preservation once the servers go down in the future.
The National Diet Library (NDL) of Japan hosts thousands of video games (alongside Music, books, and other materials) in aid of preservation efforts and was asked about game-key cards by Famitsu (via Automaton). A representative from the NDL said that "only physical media that contains the content itself" will be eligible for preservation by the library. They add "Since a key card, on its own, does not qualify as content, it falls outside of our scope for collection and preservation."
Automaton notes that the NDL has recently started archiving digital books and magazines, meaning it could change its stance on digital games somewhere down the line. But due to these games being at the mercy of licenses and server upkeep by the console manufacturers I don't see it being likely unless Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo changes things drastically.
CD Projekt exec says "the right thing to do" is release a real Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge for Cyberpunk 2077, not a game-key card, in message to other studios: "Do not underestimate the physical edition."
An earlier version of this article included an error in the headline, which has since been corrected. The article otherwise appears as originally published.
