Nintendo is shocked how to handle your digital game purchases. Now it is calling these virtual game cards, hoping to make it easier for you to share games in multiple switch systems. You can even have friends and family borrow games you purchased from Eshop so they can play on their own switches. Setting up settings is a slightly complex process, but in most cases you only need to do the tricky thing once. Anyway, we are here to help.
The virtual game card system will be live on the console on April 30, when Nintendo launched a major update. The Nintendo Switch 2 (arrived on June 5) will also support virtual gaming card loans and lending. The virtual game card also includes any game-related DLC (i.e., additional downloadable content) you get.
If you haven’t tried this way to get your kids, partner or roommate to jump into a switch game you don’t currently play, sharing a virtual game card is a very simple process. Before explaining how to use a virtual game card on your own two switch consoles, we’ll break down how to do this.
There are many warnings you need to be aware of when lending and borrowing virtual game cards. Sadly, casual internet acquaintances living on the other side of the country will not be able to borrow games from your switch. The virtual game card system is designed to share games between friends and family – you need to transfer on the same Wi-Fi network.
Being smart, you can only lend a virtual game card to another member of the Nintendo account family group. When the game is borrowed and borrowed, the two switch systems also need to be connected to the same wireless network.
You can lend 14 days of game at once. Although your game is loaned out, you won’t be able to play it on your own switch. But if you do decide to go back to this title, you can always recall it (and maybe a way to show misbehavior). Let’s browse other key virtual game card loan programs at bullet points:
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You can lend up to three virtual game cards at a time.
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Borrowers can only participate in one game at a time, and they cannot borrow from multiple users at the same time.
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Again, you can only lend a virtual game card to a given console at any time.
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If the switch has users belonging to a different home group, any virtual game cards will not be borrowed.
Got all of this? Cool. Let’s tap on how to actually lend and borrow virtual game cards on the Nintendo Switch.
How to set up a switch system to share virtual game card
Before you can actually start using loans and borrowing virtual gaming cards, there are a few things you need to do. First, make sure your system software is up to date. You can check this by going to the Switch home screen, then System Settings > System > System Update. If your switch does not run the latest system software, it will initiate the update process. Otherwise, you are golden.
Next, as mentioned above, you need to make sure that the switch system you are going to swap the virtual game card on the same wireless network. Once these issues are resolved, if you haven’t done so, it’s time to make sure the console is in the same Nintendo Account Family Group. (A family group can include up to eight account holders, and a role-based system allows parents to control it.)
Somewhat annoying is that you can’t add a Nintendo account from the home group of the switch console while things stand. You must set it up on Nintendo’s website.
First, login will be the Nintendo account for the home group administrator (each home group can only be an administrator). From there, select Family Group and then Add Members, or, if you haven’t set up a Family Group, create Family Group.
To invite an existing Nintendo account holder to a family group, first click the “Invite someone to your family” option (or make a set for a child under 12 years old, if you are adding). Of course, if you want to invite someone from a family group that doesn’t have a Nintendo account yet, you need to set up an account.
Next, you need to read the disclaimer about adding only people you know to your family group and then what will happen if your account or their account is banned (spoiler, that’s not a good thing!). Once you agree to the disclaimer and click Confirm, you will be prompted for the email address of the Nintendo account you want to add to the home group. Click Submit when finished.
The person you invite to the family group will receive an email. They need to click on the verification link, log in to their Nintendo account if necessary, and click Join Family Group. After the person joins the family group, the administrator can assign roles to them.
phe, OK. All the hard/annoying stuff is in trouble. In addition to connecting to the same wireless network, you only need to do all of these once to make sure a pair of switch consoles are ready to use a virtual gaming card. Now is an interesting part.
How to borrow and borrow virtual game cards on Nintendo Switch
For clarity, let’s call system A that lends the virtual game card switch A. We refer to the device we borrowed from the game as Switch B (called Switch 1 and Switch 2 and Switch 2 will make things even more confusing!).
Go to the Virtual Game Card option on the switch home screen and select the user linked to the Nintendo account. At this point, if you enable the user verification settings, you need to enter your password or PIN.
Select the game you want to lend from the virtual game card library and go to Lend to Family Group Members > Select the user to borrow. Select the person you want to receive the game and click Loan.
After that, the turnaround is the recipient’s action. On switch B, access the virtual game card from the home screen. Select the user profile for those who receive the game and enter a PIN or password if necessary. Then select the “Borrow” option. After that, the virtual game card should start downloading and you will be able to play!
When you actively borrow and borrow, you only need to connect to the same wireless network (“Load” or “Pop” to use Nintendo’s terms). Once on the switch, you don’t necessarily have to play the game online. Nintendo has a help article that should help you resolve any error messages you encounter as part of the process.
Returning to the virtual game card (maybe you can borrow another from Switch A) is also simple. Go to the Virtual Game Card from the home screen, select the relevant user profile, and enter your password or PIN if needed. Go to the game, select Return to Family Group Members, and click Return.
This may be a little more complicated than it has to be. Switch B users may be more likely to receive notifications when Switch A provides them with games. Still, the process should be simple enough, especially after you get to the point.
How to use virtual game card on two switch units
Another thing you can do with a virtual game card is that even if one is in sleep mode, you can swap freely between your own two switch consoles. Maybe you have a docked switch in your living room and you have a switch lite anytime, anywhere. In this case, the system can be useful. As always, other users of the switch console can play on any game or DLC installed on the system through their profile.
To swap virtual game cards from one switch to another, you first need to link them. First, install the systems you can already install on (switch A, we call it) (Switch b) (Switch B) close to each other and connect them to the Internet. Make sure your Nintendo account is also linked to users on Switch B.
On switch B, select the virtual game card from the home screen and select the user linked to your Nintendo account (again, if you have user verification, you will need to enter your password or PIN). Select the virtual game card you want to add to switch B and go to Load on this system >Next > System close enough (Once the two consoles are ensured to be within a close distance).
Next, return to SwitchA. Do it again Virtual Game Card > User Link to the same Nintendo Account > Password/PIN (if necessary) trade. You will then see a message about linking to another console. Select the link option to enable this feature. After the packaging link process, click the OK button. If such a prompt pops up to load the virtual game card you previously selected, you also need to click Load on this system.
That’s it! After that, you don’t need to get the consoles close to each other to load the virtual game cards on either system.
Remember that for this purpose, only two consoles can be linked. To set another console to a new switch B (we will still call it “it” for clarity, browse the same setup process again on that device.
Throughout, you will see a message on the new switch B telling you that you have linked two consoles to load the virtual game card. Read about this information (and assume that linking different switches is what you want to do), select UNINK next to the console you want to connect to. Click this button again to confirm.
If you want to play digital switch games on more than two consoles (maybe there is one in your study, the other in your bedroom, and a third in your vacation home?), you may want to use an additional method called the online license feature. Nintendo has a help article that will give you an idea of how to set it up.
Using both methods, you need to consider an important factor. Saving data is not automatically shared on each system, so you can’t simply start playing games on one switch and then continue to stop on another switch. To do this, if you are a Nintendo Switch online subscriber, you will need to manually transfer data by bringing two consoles close to each other or through the cloud.
How to hide virtual game cards on Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch has been around for over eight years. That was a long time! During this time you may have accumulated a lot of digital games, which may make it increasingly difficult to find what you need. Thankfully, there is an option in your collection to hide (and UND) virtual game cards.
To hide one, go to the virtual game card on the Switch home screen and select the user linked to the Nintendo account. Highlight the game or DLC you want to hide, select the option, and hide twice to mask the title from the library.
To view the hidden virtual game card, repeat the first two steps, then scroll down and select the software not found? Options. Starting here, you will see a prompt to view the hidden virtual game card. Select this and you will see a full list of hidden cards.
You can also untie the virtual game card from this section. Select a specific game, then select Options and UNDIDE. It will then appear with your regular virtual game card library.
The game card is not completely useless. You can still download related games to your switch and the card is hidden or loaned to others in the family group.
