Nintendo Switch 2’s reveal during the direct in early April is still causing a ruckus throughout the gaming industry. Both positive and negative reactions have poured in regarding all the new information surrounding Nintendo’s next console, upcoming games, and more. One topic that has proved to be controversial is the system’s game-key cards.
When the information was given to the public, it split players. Some argued that it was a ploy to move away from physical media. In contrast, others rationalized that it was designed to allow people to resale and share downloadable codes, doing away with the way of one-use codes. And with that conversation brewing, of course, it would reach people who make games like Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios.
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Nightdive Studios CEO calls game-key cards “disheartening”
During an interview with Games Industry Biz, Kick, who is a part of the Nightdive Studios team, a company known for remastering classics, opened up about the game-key controversy. Kick pushed back at Nintendo’s new packaging, arguing that it works against the importance of preserving video games.
“Seeing Nintendo do this is a little disheartening. You would hope that a company that big, that has such a storied history, would take preservation a little more seriously…I think that the Nintendo example is a step back.”
As he continued, Kick asserted that game developers should celebrate fan bases more, as they are “invaluable” to making sure games live past their time in the sun. In contrast to Nintendo’s game keys, the Nightdive Studios CEO pointed to Bethesda as a good example of working closely to ensure that communities that love their games are protected instead of targeted.
“I think that’s exactly what I’d like to see more of, and that’s something that we do extensively on the Nightdive side. Whenever we have an opportunity to do a new game, the first thing we do is go and seek out the community that’s made it playable to this point, and either consult with them, contract them, or, in some cases, even hire some of those team members.”
Stephen also brought up the joint efforts of Sega, Capcom, Taito, and Square Enix to “archive past development materials to preserve historical assets for research and exhibitions.” Kick did have his gripes at them for not doing this sooner, but still, it was a step in the right direction that should be celebrated, according to the developer.
This is amazing news! Square Enix, Capcom, Taito, and Sega aim to “archive past development materials” to preserve historical assets for research and exhibitions. Use your browser translate feature to read this great article – unless you can read Japanese anyway! gamemakers.jp/article/2024…
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— Kevin Edwards ( Retro Videogame development ) (@kevedwardsretro.bsky.social) April 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
“While that’s really nice, it would have also been nice if they did this 20 years ago, right?” Kick adds. “But that could be said for everybody. I think everybody is definitely putting in way more effort these days to back up their stuff, which is great. It’ll make our jobs easier as a studio that primarily focuses on remasters.”
It’ll be interesting to see how the game-key concept evolves or regresses during the Switch 2 era. The concept isn’t necessarily new, as previous PlayStation 4 and Xbox One titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 have had multiple discs containing the game and separate data, but still, it is something to keep an eye out for especially with bigger and newer games on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S.
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