During Nintendo’s annual shareholders meeting on June 27, 2025, a shareholder asked a question about Game-Key Cards, saying that they usually hear about third-party games not selling on Nintendo platforms, and proceeded to say that even though Game-Key Cards are a “half-baked measure” with little appeal, many third-party publishers are using it. They asked whether Game-Key Cards have something to do with the poor sales of third-party games.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa started his response by explaining how Game-Key Cards work. He then went on to say that the company will work hard in helping third parties sell their games, and that the larger file sizes of Nintendo Switch 2 games brought about their creation. He didn’t answer the question on how Game-Key Cards affect third-party game sales on Nintendo Switch 2.

Another shareholder shared a transcription of the same Q&A,  in which Furukawa was quoted as saying that Game-Key Cards were conceived as “an option” for publishers to bring their games to retail, and that they have been considering ideas (for Game-Key Cards) together with third-party publishers and proceeding with selling games on the new physical format.

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