With the Switch 2 coming, Nintendo is working on Virtual Game Cards for cross-device portability

Nintendo announced on Thursday that it is working on Virtual Game Cards, a feature that makes digitally downloaded games more portable across different devices. With the highly awaited Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon, these Virtual Game Cards will make it easier for users to port over their existing Switch games to their new devices.

As it stands, Switch games can be purchased either as a physical game card — like a traditional video game cartridge — or as a digital download. While physical game cards can easily be ejected and reinserted into another Switch for easy play, digital downloads have been a bit harder to port from device to device.

Available in late April, Virtual Game Cards are intended to make digital games operate more like physical ones. Players can easily migrate games between two devices, so long as they connect locally the first time a game is transferred.

The Virtual Game Cards also come with the functionality to lend games to anyone in your Nintendo Family Group, which includes up to eight people, via local Wi-Fi. Users can only lend one game at a time to a particular person, and at the end of a 14-day borrowing period, the games return automatically to the lender.

While there’s no official word yet on when the Switch 2 will come out, fans are looking forward to more information about the console on a Nintendo Direct livestream scheduled for April 2.