Switch 2 Update Secretly Makes Digital Game Sharing Much Better

Everyone is focused on VRR (variable refresh rate) support for Switch 2 while docked. But the latest system update just provided a notable quality-of-life improvement for people–especially families–who own multiple Switch 2 and Switch consoles. Nintendo now allows for you to play a virtual game card on one of your devices without both having to be online. Previously, you’d need both hybrid consoles connected to the internet if you tried to play a digital title while it was “stored” on another.

For example, say your child is playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder on your old Switch OLED, but you want to play it on your Switch 2. You both can actually play the title simultaneously by turning off Wi-Fi on the original hybrid console. Then, on your Switch 2, you can utilize an online license to jump around as the mustached plumber, too. We tested this out successfully.

This also helps a lot between manually sending virtual game cards back and forth between Switch and Switch 2 systems. Now I can just start say, Blasphemous, on either system without having to actually send it from the previous place to a new one. Sure, it’s not as smooth as using apps across Apple devices, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Here’s Nintendo’s official language for the version 23.0.0 update, which incorporates Switch 2 and Switch. “When starting software, if a virtual game card cannot be ejected from another console because it is powered off or otherwise not connected to the internet, there will be a prompt to start the software using an online license.”

The one caveat for utilizing the online license is that only the user account that purchased the digital game can play it. So that means your child can’t boot up the title with their account if the parent purchased it, which is silly. Nintendo needs to iron out digital ownership for families or come up with a nominal fee for multiple licenses to a game.

Along with these changes, Nintendo also brought back music to the Mii Maker on Switch 2. In fact, you can choose between the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS tracks. It’s been a big week for the house of Mario, with a Legend of Zelda 40th-anniversary Direct as well as a general Nintendo Direct.