Why Some Nintendo Switch Games Force You To Use A microSD Card – SlashGear

As mentioned, the Nintendo Switch doesn’t offer much storage space out of the box. This is fine if you only play one or two games, but the more you buy, the more you’ll use. If you’re keen on downloading your games digitally from the Nintendo eShop, you’ll run out of internal storage space much faster.

But even if you’re the type to stay locked in on one game that can fit entirely on the 32GB Switch, you might be forced to use a microSD card, regardless of whether or not you have a physical copy. This is especially true for games that are regularly fattened with additional content, either through routine updates or premium downloadable content.

Those games need somewhere to put new experiences, and if your internal storage is full, the microSD card is the only refuge available. In the case of the aforementioned NBA 2K22, it’s so big that the required storage after the mandatory download eclipses the base Switch model’s out-of-box maximum, thus necessitating the requirement.

Thankfully, these cards are increasingly inexpensive and nearly as fast as the chips built into the console. The Nintendo Switch supports microSD cards up to 2TB, which may be overkill. The sweet spot tends to be either 128GB or 256GB, depending on how many games you buy digitally. You can find Nintendo-branded cards from SanDisk in that range at very affordable prices.