A new Nintendo Switch feature will allow you to lend even virtual games to your friends for a period of up to two weeks. Nintendo says to think of it like lending a friend a physical game card, minus actually keeping track of the cards themselves.
Of course, there are a few catches. You need to be on a local wireless network to lend a game to someone; in other words, you can’t lend the game to a friend halfway across the country. You’ll have to be on the same Wi-Fi network. However, once you’ve lent the game to someone, they can play it offline — an internet connection is only required for loading or ejecting a game.
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The trailer shows two options: lend to another system or lend to a family member. You can share with anyone who’s a part of your Nintendo Switch Family, but only one game per person at a time. The games remain on the other systems for two weeks, after which they will automatically return to your console. One thing to note, though: save data won’t be erased, so you can re-lend the game if the person wants to continue playing after that initial 14-day period is complete.
This feature only applies to games you have bought digitally, not physically. If you own a physical cartridge, you’ll still need to lend it the old-fashioned way: hand-to-hand. Talk about outdated analog, right?
All of your virtual game cards can be found the Nintendo Switch’s home screen under the icon Virtual Game Cards for easy management.
This is an innovative, creative take on the problem of sharing digital games between systems. It’s useful for people who have more than one Nintendo Switch console, as well people who want the chance to try out a game without forking over their hard-earned money.
The feature isn’t live yet, but Nintendo plans to add it through a system update in late April.
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