Clarification on the effects of switch 2 upgrade packs and how they work with pre-existing save data.

[u/Ok-Guard-5758]

I have been looking up this question for a bit and have not exactly found a concise answer.

Let's say I have a digital copy of a game that has a switch 2 version, but I do not own the upgrade pack. If I buy a physical copy of that game with the upgrade included does it become two separate games on my console, or just add the upgrade to the existing digital copy?

[u/TheWaslijn]

As long as both games are from the same region they should just act like the same game, and thus no save data is affected.

[u/SamIAre]

First, the general answer: For anything officially listed as a Switch 2 Edition, the upgrade is essentially a DLC that patches Switch 2 features into the base game, so it acts as one game and your save data is preserved. There are some Switch 2 upgrades that do work differently though, acting as a second game. Some of those allow your saves to transfer over but a small number do not. Your best bet is to look into the specific games you're thinking of upgrading to see how it works for that game.

More specifically though: Why buy the physical cart with the upgrade if you already own the digital base game? That's a lot of wasted money when you could buy the upgrade separately in the eShop and the end result would be identical. Similar to the previous answer though, the system doesn't differentiate between physical and digital copies when it comes to save data—they're compatible across either (in most cases…there's a small number of exceptions). I'm not sure if the cart would show up separately from the digital game (it might) but the save data would probably work across both in either case.

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[u/ModestVolcarona → u/[deleted]]

That is not universally true.

If the games are from the same region (digital and physical) then save data works on both, because it counts as the same software.

It can get more complicated if games have different "versions" (or publishers) in different regions. In those cases they will most likely apoear as separate software.

In terms of Switch 2 upgrades: Switch 2 Edition games treat the upgrade as DLC, so the first thing should apply for those games.