With the introduction of Virtual Game Cards, Switch owners can now conveniently swap digital games from one Switch console to another. However, it’s been noted that players can no longer boot up the same game simultaneously across two Switch consoles while online.
The good news is that while you can no longer utilise the old method of using primary and secondary accounts and whatnot, there is a loophole that lets you boot up the same game on multiple systems. (More on that in a moment.)
The bad news, however, is that you won’t be able to play online at the same time across two different Switch consoles. So no Splatoon 3 matches with just one digital copy of the game, then. Users on ResetEra have been voicing their dismay, with some calling it a “major downgrade” and others simply stating “it f***ing sucks”.
Similarly, there doesn’t seem to be any viable method to play multiplayer locally. We’ve tested this out with Fast RMX, and we’ve been unable to set up a session via local connection.
If you’d like to try out the loophole for yourself to “https://www.nintendolife.com/share” one digital game on two Switches, it’s all to do with the Online Licenses option within the User Settings. Essentially, if you turn this on, you’ll be able to play a game you’ve downloaded even if the Virtual Game Card isn’t loaded onto your system. So, by moving a Virtual Game Card over to a second console and switching Online Licences on, two people can play the same game simultaneously on two consoles.
The key, however, is making sure that the secondary Switch is not connected to the internet after loading and downloading the Virtual Game Card. By disconnecting the Wi-Fi, the primary Switch will not be able to perform an online check and see if the secondary console is playing the game.
Confused? Don’t worry, it’s a bit of a faff. You can check out our guide for the full lowdown, but here’s a more simplified breakdown:
- Pair Switch A and Switch B to enable the use of Virtual Game Card across both
- Load the game onto Switch B, thus ‘ejecting’ it from Switch A
- Turn on ‘Online Licenses’ via the User Settings on Switch A (System Settings > Users > Online License Settings)
- Disable Wi-Fi connection on Switch B (or turn on Flight Mode)
- Now boot up the game on both consoles
