Nintendo Opens Applications to Join Switch Online Playtest for a Mysterious 'New Feature'

In a move that got Nintendo fans speculating on Wednesday, the company announced that it's taking applications for thousands of participants to test out "a new feature" coming to Switch Online — but no one knows what that is.

Per Nintendo's announcement, as many as 10,000 participants are expected to be selected for the playtest, simply titled the Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program. Hopeful applicants will need to have an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership and, in a bit of a hint (maybe?), Nintendo added that "customers will need to download exclusive software to their own Nintendo Switch system in order to participate."

We will be performing a test related to a new feature for #NintendoSwitchOnline on #NintendoSwitch. Starting 8:00 AM PT on Oct. 10, existing Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members will be able to apply to participate on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Learn more:… pic.twitter.com/PKAz20oD5G— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 9, 2024

Additionally, participants must be at least 18 years old and have their Nintendo accounts registered to Japan, the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, or Spain. Participants outside of Japan will be chosen on a first-come first-serve basis, while those from Japan will be chosen via raffles if there are too many applicants. Recruitment opens on Thursday morning and ends on October 15.

Otherwise, though, we're completely in the dark on what this "new feature" could be. But, given Nintendo just announced new hardware in the unexpected form of an alarm clock, we're open to surprises.

Nintendo Switch Online launched officially in 2018 and offers various features, including cloud saving, online multiplayer, voice chat, and a library of NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Color games, for a monthly subscription. The additional Expansion Pack tier, introduced in 2021, includes a library of N64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy Advance games, as well as DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 2.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.