Mystery Nintendo Switch online playtest is already full but what is it?

A day after the reveal of Alarmo, Nintendo has recruited 10,000 people for a secret new online test but it’s unclear if it has anything to do with the Switch 2.

Everyone always talk about how Nintendo are unpredictable but it takes them unveiling an interactive alarm clock, called Alarmo, right at the moment that everyone’s expecting a Switch 2 reveal, to understand just how strange they can be sometimes.

Now, almost immediately after that, they’ve started advertising a ‘test’ called Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program, which is ‘related to a new feature for the Nintendo Switch Online service offered for the Nintendo Switch system.’

Nintendo Switch Online is the Nintendo equivalent of PlayStation Plus, so it’s hard to guess what this is all about, given it’s late in the Nintendo Switch’s lifetime and everyone is waiting for Switch 2 news rather than anything to do with online services.

What is the Nintendo Switch online playtest?

There are few clues from Nintendo as to what all this is about, with the sign-up page for the test merely saying that you must have Expansion Pack membership as well, which is the more expensive subscription tier that gives you access to more retro formats and free DLC.

You’ll also need to ‘download exclusive software’ to your Switch in order to participate in the test, which will last from Thursday, October 24 to Wednesday, November 6 – so quite a long time.

If we had to guess we’d assume that it was a network stress test for a new online game, as there have been a few available only via Nintendo Switch Online, with Tetris 99 starting a range of online titles with 99 people playing at once.

So perhaps Nintendo has a more ambitious title planned, either in terms of the number of players or the nature of the game. The only real information from Nintendo is that the programme will involve upwards of 10,000 people, so that is a lot of stress to test.

Or perhaps they’re trying to get the multiplayer working for GameCube games, which haven’t yet been available on the Switch, and need to test them first.

With a test period that long, it’s extremely likely that someone will leak what it’s all about, but Nintendo will know that, so it’s relatively unlikely this has anything obvious to do with the Switch 2.

But it’s Nintendo, so who knows. Even if this is just a relatively minor online title it itself could be a testbed for a future Switch 2 game. Although the description does refer to it, whatever it is, as a ‘feature’ not a game.

So maybe it’s a modern equivalent of Miiverse or StreetPass. Or perhaps it’s just something that links to Alarmo… it is literally impossible to say.

How do you join the Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program?

Joining the playtest is very simple, all you need to do is go to this page and sign-up via the link at the bottom.

The ‘recruitment’ period is between Thursday, October 10 and Tuesday, October 15 but it’s on a first come, first served basis and at time of writing it seems like all the places are already taken.

It doesn’t actually say that – the application page button is just greyed out – so it may be worth checking back later, but it seems Nintendo didn’t have any trouble recruiting interested test subjects…