Cyberpunk 2077 dev says putting the whole game on Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge was the “right thing to do”

At least for the launch of Nintendo Switch 2, Cyberpunk 2077 is the only original third-party game that has everything on the cartridge. Many titles are opting to instead take advantage of game-key cards. That means you’re getting a cartridge, but you need to download all of the title’s data first before you can play it.

Jan Rosner, VP of business development at CD Projekt Red, has now spoken about the decision to have the entire Cyberpunk 2077 experience on the Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge. This follows the company’s approach with The Witcher 3 on Switch 1, which was also a full physical release.

Rosner told The Game Business:

“We try to look at those things as players ourselves. And that was a big learning from the original Switch. The [internal storage] was way lower than it is now. A game like The Witcher 3 would take up to 80% of your internal memory if you don’t have an external memory card. But… a plug and play experience is a really cool thing. We’ve already seen from the original Switch that Nintendo players are quite receptive to that. It was a goal that we wanted to achieve fairly early on.”

Rosner was also asked if CD Projekt Red could have followed other third-parties and also used a game-key card. However, the company still believes in the physical retail market and also believes that it was the “right thing to do.” 

“It’s not a matter of getting away with something. Nintendo at physical retail is still strong, and retail is, in general, not going anywhere. I don’t think we’ll soon experience a reality where we’re just having all games digital. But again, it’s especially important for the Nintendo audience. We maybe could have got away with it, but is there a point? The right thing to do was to have it out on the cartridge with a plug and play experience.

Do not underestimate the physical edition. It’s not going anywhere and Nintendo players are very appreciative of physical editions that are done right.”

Cyberpunk 2077 launches for Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025. For those wondering about which games for the system are game-key cards, we have a complete list here.