Is there a 2 GB limit per game on the Switch?

Question

On the weekend I heard, after having some inexplicable space problems, that Minecraft can only take up to 2 GB space on Nintendo Switch. But it says only 1 GB in System Settings and I wasn't able to download a ~100MB Texture Pack, even though I had 249 GB of free space on my MicroSD and 12 GB of free space in System Memory.

After I deleted some other packs it worked.

One person told me about the limit but had no reference. So is this limit true?

Answer 1

So is this limit true?

According to a thread on GameFAQs:

Playsaver:
My save data totals to 2GB. I've only got three different worlds saved.

sonicking917:
I think it's automatically 2GB set aside for saves, rather than the save getting larger. I only have one world and it's 2GB.

So we can tell that Minecraft creates a 2 GB save file, where it saves everything it needs, such as your worlds, texture packs, etc. This is separate from the game or any DLC you may buy from the eShop.

This is further supported by Destructoid:

Saves take up around 2GB per profile used of the Switch's internal memory, which is a lot considering you only have 32GB to start and saves currently can't be pushed to SD cards.

However, the thread was about Minecraft: Switch Edition, which has been replaced by Minecraft in 2018. It may no longer be entirely up-to-date.

why does that limit exist.

We don't know. It could be:

• a technical limitation (a single save file can not be more than 2 GB).
• a design limitation (games are not allowed to use more than 2 GB per profile). This makes a lot of sense too, since save files are only written to the console's 32 GB internal storage. If every game needed 2 GB save files, you could only save progress for up to 16 games (in reality it'd be a lot less, since part of the 32 GB is used for the Switch's own system software and update data).
• for optimization (too large save files could negatively affect performance).
• poor coding (we thought 2 GB would be enough, and now it takes too much work to change).
• some other reason.
• a mix of any of the reasons above.

Unfortunately, this is not a question we can answer.