Discussions about so-called Game Key Cards for Switch 2 continue to be very lively. These are physical cartridges that do not contain the game in question, but simply act as a key that allows you to download the game. This means that when the servers are shut down, the cartridge is as useless as a digital copy.
For many, this goes against the very idea of owning a cartridge, and many collectors have said they are extremely disappointed about this and are actively choosing not to buy Game Key Cards. Now, Final Fantasy VII: Remake creator Naoki Hamaguchi has weighed in on the phenomenon in an interview with Automaton, explaining why the recently released (for Switch 2 and Xbox Series S/X) role-playing game did not come on a "real" cartridge that actually contains the game.
It turns out that the reason is more complicated than the obvious fact that it simply wouldn't have fit, due to the 64 gigabyte limit. Hamaguchi says:
"There's simply no way around key cards in certain respects. If you compare loading directly from a game cartridge (containing all game data) to loading from the Nintendo Switch 2's internal storage, the load speed difference is roughly double."
This poses problems that Square Enix couldn't get around because it would have led to a poorer gaming experience:
"Our game design isn't built around loading all data upfront, with nothing further being loaded afterward. Even during gameplay, data is constantly swapped in and out, and given that premise, the loading speed from a game card would inevitably be insufficient, leading to stress for the player. In addition, with currently available cartridge capacity, there is the practical limitation that the full game data simply wouldn't fit in the first place."
By maximising the strengths of the format, Hamaguchi believes they can optimise the games as much as possible. And this is something they intend to continue doing. He goes so far as to claim that it is thanks to the fact that Switch 2 has such fast storage media that Final Fantasy VII: Remake Intergrade was brought to the format in the first place:
"In the past, when faced with practical issues related to load speed and storage capacity we couldn't resolve, we had to decide not to release on Nintendo systems. However, Nintendo Switch 2's performance is impressive, and with a key card format like FFVII Remake, releasing the games became possible. I believe the only thing I can do is continue to sincerely communicate that fact to users."
The debate about Game Key Cards is likely to rage on, but in some cases it is simply obvious that without this solution, the game could not have been released physically at all or would have had to be significantly downgraded.