Nintendo rolls out Virtual Game Cards to Switch: cue confusion and anger from folks who can reportedly no longer play the same game online on two consoles

Right, if you were hoping to play a single copy of the same game online across two Nintendo Switch 2s, it appears you’re out of luck. Nintendo’s rolled out its new Virtual Game Cards to the classic Switch via an update that lays the groundwork for the new console, and it’s reportedly gotten rid of the ability play the same digital copy online on two systems simulataneously.

This was first identified by folks on ResetEra, who clearly downloaded the Switch software version 20.0.0 that Ninty’s just released and immediately decided to have some fun with a mate. The change itself is seemingly a bit of murky one – the method it’s nixed was viewed by some players as a cheeky “loophole” and its striking from the record looks to just be down to the different way that Game Cards handle Switch games.

Basically, what people had previously been doing in order to play Switch games online with a mate is logging into the game owner’s account on two different Switch consoles – a ‘primary’ one and a ‘secondary’ one. The primary one would see the game owner set up their copy of the game, then hand over to the second player who’d sign in to their own account and still be able to fire up the instyalled game to play online.

Then, the game owner would turn on the ‘secondary’ Switch, log into their account to install that same game, then be able to play it online. Boom, two people on two Switches playinmg the same digital copy of a game online together, via a method that’s a lot easier to do than it to explain without twisting your tongue and tonsils together.

However, with the deployment of these Virtual Game Cards, it’s reportedly no longer possible to follow that and play online, because the Game Cards treat digital games like a single cartrige. However, simultaneous offline play looks like it’s still on the table, even if it’ll require you to set your Switch as offline via a new Online License option in the settings.

Naturally, folks who love a good bit of online play with a mate and don’t want to have to buy two copies of a game are pretty unhappy with Nintendo having gotten rid of something they’d been doing on the reg just before it drops its new console. The word “downgrade” is being chucked about in the thread I linked earlier

Now, the Switch 2 isn’t here yet, so there’s a chance Nintendo sees the backlash and comes up with a solution – or at least makes it clear whether features like Gameshare, which has also been rolled out with this Switch update and currently will let you play some games online together via local wireless, will become a fully-blown catch-all replacement for the method that’s been taken off the table.

Were you regularly using this method to share your Switch library and play online with your mates, partner, or Grandma? Let us know below!