Just in time for Christmas: Nintendo prepares digital gifting for Switch

Until now, anyone wanting to give someone a Switch game as a gift has had to choose between a physical copy and a gift card. There's no option to gift digital games directly, something that was already being criticized in community discussions back in 2020. While a boxed game might make for a nicer present, there are plenty of situations where Switch users would prefer a digital version – for example, when a game is on sale or when they can't hand over the gift in person.

With system update 23.5.0 for the Switch 2, Nintendo has now introduced technical support for a new gifting feature. According to the official patch notes from November 9, it will allow users to gift products from the Nintendo eShop. There is one restriction, however: The feature will only work within a Nintendo Account family group. In other words, users won't be able to send digital Switch games to just any friend, only to members of the same family group. It's also unclear whether all content on the Nintendo eShop will be eligible for gifting. The feature could potentially be limited to certain titles.

Wrapped in digital gift paper

A digital Switch game might not give recipients anything physical to unwrap, but at least the unwrapping experience won't be lost entirely. As Nintendo explains in a separate announcement, digital gifts will come with gift wrapping in a choice of colors. And knowing Nintendo, an unwrapping animation wouldn't be too surprising either. We'll find out in just a few days. One downside: Apparently, gifts can't be scheduled for a specific date. Anyone planning to give a game for Christmas will therefore have to buy it shortly before the gift exchange – or ask the recipient not to unwrap it until Christmas.

Just in time for Christmas

While the system update lays the technical groundwork, the new gifting feature isn't available to use just yet. That will require an additional eShop update, scheduled for November 17, 2026. With that, a few digital Switch games could find their way under the Christmas tree this year, too.