How Many Downloaded Games You Can Actually Fit on the Switch

The Nintendo Switch release is right round the corner, and we’re all super excited for the launch of this new console. Being able to take console quality games on the go is something that’s never been done before. Nintendo has told us the on-board memory space that will be available for the Switch; it’s about 32 GB before you include the actual system data, which takes up a few gigs of space. With Nintendo publishing the file sizes of downloadable Switch games, it seems that prospective owners of said console might have to cough up some extra dollars if they plan on downloading multiple titles on their system. With Nintendo leaving you with only 25.9 GB for all of your games, let’s see how big some of the Switch games really are and find out which games you’ll be able to download without purchasing a separate SD card.

Here are the official digital download file sizes for a few Switch games that comes from Nintendo’s official site entries for the individual titles.

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 13.4 GB
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 7 GB 
• Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together! – 1.60 GB
• Disgaea 5 – 5.92 GB
• Puyo Puyo Tetris – 1.09 GB
• I Am Setsuna – 1.40 GB
• Dragon Quest Heroes I·II – 32 GB
• Nobunaga’s Ambition – 5 GB 

Looking at this list, you can already see that one of these games are already too big to fit on the Switch’s internal storage out of the box. If you were to download Dragon Quest Heroes I·II, you would definitely need to purchase a microSD card. Now, this title is technically two games put together into one singular package, but there’s not a way to purchase them separately, so you’re out of luck.

The rest of the titles are actually significantly smaller when it comes to file sizes. You can download a couple of these games and still have some space left over for other content that you might need space for. Here are some combinations of games that you can download onto your Switch without going over the 25.9 GB storage space.

Scenario 1

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 13.4 GB
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 7 GB 
• Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together! – 1.60 GB
• Puyo Puyo Tetris – 1.09 GB
• I Am Setsuna – 1.40 GB

You get to download Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe while getting a few other smaller titles as well. This adds up to 24.49 GB, which leaves you with little to no space, so good luck with those save files or picture saving.

Scenario 2

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 13.4 GB
• Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together! – 1.60 GB
• Puyo Puyo Tetris – 1.09 GB
• I Am Setsuna – 1.40 GB
• Disgaea 5 – 5.92 GB

However way you work it out, it seems that you’ll get 5 or 6 games to squeeze into the internal storage of the Switch. If most games are small unlike Zelda, then maybe you won’t have to spend more on a separate memory card. There’s no install space needed for game carts like how PlayStation and Xbox do, so don’t worry about that. You can actually get away with the space that the Switch gives you out of the box. It’s the same amount of space that the deluxe edition of the Wii U had, but hopefully this won’t be a negative aspect of the console. 32 gigs is plenty of space to fit your first few downloads on, and if it’s not, microSD cards are inexpensive and can be found pretty much anywhere.

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