Switch

The Nintendo Switch appears to have had a pretty solid start in China with an estimated 50,000 sales being generated on its launch day last month, but this new Tencent-distributed model does have a couple of limitations compared to the Switch consoles already on the market worldwide.

We've already seen that Chinese Switch owners are faced with a different eShop for their digital purchases, but the physical games will act slightly differently, too. Daniel Ahmad, Senior Analyst at Niko Partners, has shared the news that cartridges made for the Tencent Nintendo Switch won't work on consoles from other parts of the world.

As you may be aware, European Switch owners can currently grab a physical game from America, Asia, or pretty much anywhere and vice versa, but this rule won't apply with games published for the Tencent model.

Now, this shouldn't usually be a concern - you'd probably have no reason to buy the Chinese version of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe when it launches physically next week - but it might cause some saddening issues down the line. Rabbids: Adventure Party, for example - the party title that currently looks set to be a China-exclusive - won't be playable at all unless you have a Tencent Switch. Well, unless you email the Ubisoft CEO, apparently.

Interestingly, Ahmed mentions that Chinese users can still import global Switch games and use it with their Tencent Nintendo Switch. Online services won't be accessible on foreign games, though.


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[source twitter.com]