New Data Shows Game Key Cards Are Selling Despite The Hate

"Game key cards were one of the more deflating aspects of the Switch 2's launch year. While digital downloads are now ubiquitous, some of Nintendo's most devoted (and loudest) fans still prefer physical games for the purposes of collecting or preservation, or just because they look nice. A cartridge that doesn't actually have the game on it just isn't the same. Yet despite all the uproar over the issue, a new survey suggests people are buying game key cards anyway."

"Deku Deals, an aggregator of sales and discounts for physical games, shared some new data about its users that shows game key cards are selling just fine. "Of the 1,070 Deku Deals users who have added one or more third party physical releases to their collection, 735 of them own one or more Game-Key Card titles," the site wrote in a new blog post this week. There's even a pie chart to show the disparity."

Game key cards faced backlash at Switch 2 launch but continue to sell to many physical buyers. Deku Deals data shows 735 of 1,070 users who added third-party physical releases own at least one Game-Key Card title. Several of the most popular Switch 2 physical releases among those users are game key cards. The prevalence of key cards is partly a result of launch constraints and costs, with only 64GB cartridges available and higher manufacturing expense. Price differences pushed some publishers to favor key cards or absorb losses to offer cartridge versions at competitive prices.

Read at Kotaku