Elden Ring: Switch‑2 Preorders
Preorders for Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 went live at $80 and the release is being sold as a Game‑Key Card that includes the base game, Shadow of the Erdtree, plus new armor sets and starting classes. ( ).
The surprise in this preorder drop is not just the $79.99 price tag. It is that the “physical” Switch 2 version is being sold as a Game-Key Card, which means the card does not hold the full game data and mainly works as a key that makes your system download the game first. (ign.com; en-americas-support.nintendo.com) Nintendo says Game-Key Cards are different from regular game cards because the full software is not on the card itself. You need an internet connection and enough free storage on the console or a microSD Express card to download the game before you can play. (en-americas-support.nintendo.com) After that first download, Nintendo says the game can be started without an internet connection, but the card still has to be inserted every time like a normal cartridge. That makes it a hybrid between a download and a boxed copy, which is why collectors keep arguing over whether this really counts as physical media at all. (en-americas-support.nintendo.com; pcmag.com) The package itself is big enough to explain part of the price. Bandai Namco’s official page says Tarnished Edition includes the original 2022 game, the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and extra content such as new armor and Torrent appearance customization. (en.bandainamcoent.eu) That still leaves the sticker shock. Nintendo Life notes that $79.99 puts it at the top end of Switch 2 game pricing, and the same report points out that Bandai Namco is not discounting the Switch 2 port below the bundle price already used on other platforms. (nintendolife.com) The other odd part is timing. Preorders are live, but IGN reports there is still no actual release date, and Bandai Namco’s official site still only says “2026” instead of naming a month or day. (ign.com; en.bandainamcoent.eu) That missing date matters because this version has already slipped once. A FromSoftware announcement on April 2, 2025 said Tarnished Edition was planned for 2025, while Bandai Namco’s current product page now lists the Switch 2 release window as 2026. (group.kadokawa.co.jp; en.bandainamcoent.eu) So the preorder tells you three concrete things before Nintendo or Bandai Namco says anything else. Elden Ring on Switch 2 is expensive, it is using Nintendo’s download-first Game-Key Card format, and buyers are still being asked to commit money before anyone will tell them the exact day it ships. (ign.com; nintendolife.com; en-americas-support.nintendo.com)
