Nintendo Expands Playtest Program to 40,000 Participants for New Online Service Feature

Nintendo has announced its latest Playtest Program, seeking 40,000 participants to test a mysterious new feature in their online service. This is a significant increase from the initial 10,000 participants sought during the first Playtest event last year.

For those who may not recall, Nintendo’s inaugural Playtest Program aimed at testing an unnamed feature for Switch Online + Expansion Pack members. The company has now broadened its scope to support both the original Switch and the newly released Switch 2 consoles. In order to participate, applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a registered Nintendo account in one of several countries, including Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Brazil, or Mexico.

Individuals may sign up alone or join groups of up to four people, with partial data sharing between group members. Participants from Japan will be selected through a raffle system, while applicants from other regions will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Applications for the program will be open from July 18 at 6PM Eastern time until July 21 at 11AM Eastern time.

While Nintendo has remained tight-lipped about the specifics of the feature being tested, they have clarified that it will involve “a test of the same service” as was previously trialed in October 2024. This lack of transparency is reminiscent of the company’s secrecy surrounding their previous Playtest Program, where participants revealed they were playing a Minecraft-like game involving block-based construction.

It appears that this feature may also be playable with other users in a shared world environment, which could explain why group sign-ups are now allowed.

Source: www.engadget.com