The 2024 action game Stellar Blade is set to launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on 5 November and it’s getting a release both digitally and physically. However, developer Shift Up understands the importance of physical media, that’s why the full game will actually be on the cartridge at launch – a rarity considering most third-party publishers will simply opt to release their games as a Game Key card instead.



Shift Up recently published a blog post explaining what to expect from the upcoming Stellar Blade: Complete Edition for Nintendo Switch 2. Apart from the package including the main game as well as all previously released DLC and update content, Switch 2 owners will also receive four exclusive Bayonetta-themed costumes for Eve. Talking about the game’s physical release in a section, Shift Up also confirmed something everybody wanted to hear.

“We also understand the importance of physical media,” Shift Up wrote, “and so we have made sure that Stellar Blade is 100% on cartridge!” Somehow, the devs managed to squeeze the game on a 32GB cartridge, which is an impressive feat considering the full game would be nearly double that size on PC and PS5.

It’s all well that Shift Up supports physical media, especially in an age where very few developers are actually speaking up about it, but that hasn’t stopped the studio from finding itself in other hard-boiled controversies. The upcoming Stellar Blade: Blood Rain has already been marred by a terrible AI-generated music video uploaded last month, which sent the internet into a frenzy. It also sends a bit of a mixed message to players as Shift Up bounces between being on the right and wrong sides of history.

Stellar Blade: Complete Edition, thankfully, doesn’t include any AI-generated content that we know of, and Switch 2 players can rest easy knowing they’re getting the full experience complete with some of the game’s past content, including a pretty awesome Nier: Automata crossover.