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Lloyd Coombes

15 September 2025

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(Image credit: Square Enix)

Nintendo’s Game Key Cards haven’t been well-received since Switch 2’s launch
Final Fantasy 7 Remake, originally released in 2020, will come to the console, but only as a Game Key card
The game weighs in at 90GB

The Nintendo Switch 2 port of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, which finally got a release date at last week’s Nintendo Direct, will get a physical release on January 22, 2026 – but it will only be a game key card in the box, and it’s set to be huge.

The format, which has been much-maligned among physical game collectors, will essentially offer a license for a downloadable version of the game, but not the full title on the cartridge.
As shown on Square Enix’s store, the game is clearly labelled as offering a Game Key (thanks, Eurogamer), meaning it’s of little use without an internet connection.

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While game key cards have become prevalent in the Nintendo Switch 2’s early months, Final Fantasy 7 is seemingly landing on that format because of the sheer volume of the game.

Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges are available in up to 64GB sizes, but Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade weighs in at around 90GB according to its eShop listing, so you’ll likely need to buy a Nintendo Switch 2 microSD Express card.
If you already played the game on PS5, PC, or even PS4 when it launched in 2020, you’ll likely be less fussed about this decision, but it does mean Switch 2 owners will see Cloud Strife and co. take up a third of the console’s base storage capacity. Given that the Switch 2 doesn’t use microSD cards (which are reasonably cheap) and instead needs microSD Express cards, it could end up being an expensive addition to your library as a result.
While some developers have managed to fit pretty sizeable games onto cartridges (every week that goes by, Cyberpunk 2077 on Switch 2 feels like witchcraft), others have suggested performance can suffer.

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Earlier this month, one developer on Star Wars Outlaws suggested that Switch 2 cartridges “simply didn’t give the performance we needed at the quality target we were going for” on Bluesky.
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Lloyd Coombes

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Lloyd Coombes is a freelance tech and fitness writer for TechRadar. He’s an expert in all things Apple as well as Computer and Gaming tech, with previous works published on TopTenReviews, Space.com, and Live Science. You’ll find him regularly testing the latest MacBook or iPhone, but he spends most of his time writing about video games at Dexerto.

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