Nintendo starts secret playtest program with 10,000 chosen ones and sets the rumor mill abuzz

Since October 10th at 3 p.m., owners of a Nintendo Swich Online account have been able to apply for the mysterious playtest program. The 10,000 test subjects we were looking for were quick, so registrations are no longer being accepted. However, the application was only possible for users with an active Expansion Pack membership anyway.

The test phase runs from October 24th to November 6th, 2024. Participants will receive a 2.2 GB application, which should preferably be used in TV mode with a LAN connection. Nintendo does not reveal the contents of the playtest. On the contrary: participants must sign a confidentiality agreement that prohibits sharing details.

An obvious assumption is that the playtest could have something to do with the Nintendo Switch 2, for which the first render images and much more information are now known. However, it is also possible that it is a feature for the Alarmo alarm clock, which was only announced on October 9th and uses well-known Nintendo characters such as Mario, Link or Pikmin to show the time on a round display.

The speculation continues on Reddit. Among other things, there is the assumption that it could be a game streaming service. Some Redditors also believe that a function for gradually downloading large games is possible.

As a child of the 90s, my Gameboy was my constant companion. After school the PlayStation was turned on. When I finally got my first PC, I was completely overwhelmed. My passion for gaming has never waned since then. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on topics that are really close to my heart – in addition to gaming, I also like to talk about e-mobility, photovoltaics or innovative gadgets. When I’m not sitting at the computer, I’m probably running a water rescue service on the Baltic Sea coast or trying to counteract the dark side of my geek life – namely sitting for long periods of time – in the local swimming pool.