FromSoftware officially announced that the Elden Ring Tarnished Edition for Switch 2 has opened pre-orders for its physical limited bundle — but players soon discovered a disappointing catch: the "physical edition" ships as a download code card inside a collector's box, not a game cartridge. The revelation has sparked significant backlash across the gaming community.
The Tarnished Edition limited bundle, priced competitively at $79.99, includes a premium collector's box, a deluxe cloth map of the Lands Between, and a DLC redemption code for the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. However, instead of containing a Switch 2 game card, the bundle only provides a download code voucher. For many collectors who pre-ordered the bundle specifically to own a physical copy of Elden Ring on Nintendo's latest platform, this came as an unpleasant surprise.
Frustrated fans took to social media to voice their concerns. On Reddit's r/EldenRing, the announcement thread quickly accumulated thousands of comments, with many players calling the move "misleading" and threatening to cancel their pre-orders. "If I wanted a digital copy, I would have just bought it from the eShop," one prominent community member wrote. "The whole point of buying a physical collector's edition is to have the cartridge on my shelf."
This controversy echoes a broader industry trend. As game cartridges and discs become more expensive to manufacture — particularly for larger games that require high-capacity storage — more publishers are opting for the "code in a box" model. Nintendo has been criticized for similar practices with select Switch 2 titles, and Bandai Namco's decision to follow suit with Elden Ring has reignited the debate around physical vs. digital ownership.
Despite the backlash, the Tarnished Edition itself remains a hotly anticipated release. It bundles the base game with the acclaimed Shadow of the Erdtree expansion and promises optimized performance for the Switch 2 hardware, including faster load times and improved visual fidelity in handheld mode. The limited bundle pre-orders remain available through the Bandai Namco official store and select retailers, though many players are now reconsidering their purchase decisions.
It is worth noting that the standard retail version of Elden Ring for Switch 2 will still be available as a physical cartridge. The controversy is specifically limited to the Tarnished Edition premium bundle, which collectors argue should have followed suit.
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