Nintendo delays 64GB game cards to 2019

Nintendo has recently informed developers that 64GB game cards, allowing developers double the current maximum of 32GB to work with, will not be available for the Switch until 2019.

This comes from a report from the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter. Currently, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Blu-ray discs allow up to 50GB of data, and while the consoles aren’t in direct competition, as the Switch continues to rocket in popularity more and more publishers will be looking to bring as many titles as possible to Nintendo’s fondleslab.

This hasn’t been a big problem for Nintendo so far, with WSJ noting that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey are both under 16gb in size. However, third party publishers have struggled, with Bethesda’s recent well-received Doom release shipping with just the single-player campaign on the cart, with players having to download the online multiplayer aspect separately

The delay is rumoured to be down to technical issues, with Nintendo keen to avoid negative buzz for technical issues, similar to the storm seen on social media when Switch units were warping in the dock at the console’s launch.

While it’s unlikely the delay of 64GB cards are going to spell any sort of disaster for the Switch, this parity will go some way to easing one of the technical issues that could arise from bringing games from Microsoft and Sony’s consoles onto the Switch.