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Oliver Brandt is a Contributing Pop Culture Writer based in Tasmania, Australia. Their focus is reporting on video games, film, and TV. They have extensive knowledge of video game history and communities both in Australia and abroad, animated films and television shows, and international cinema. Oliver joined Newsweek in 2024 and has previously worked at Men’s Journal, Parade, and more. They are a graduate of Curtin University. You can get in touch with Oliver by emailing o.brandt@newsweek.com. You can find them on X and Bluesky @chocobalt. Languages: English.
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Late last year, Nintendo launched a mysterious and secretive playtest for an upcoming game, with a few thousand players invited to check out an early version of the game. Now, people who missed out the first time will get a second chance to try it out.
Nintendo has announced a second round of its Nintendo Switch Online Playtest Program, which will run from July 28 to August 10, 2025. The playtest will allow those who sign up to play what Nintendo says is “related to a service for Nintendo Switch Online.” The company also says it is “a test of the same service” as the last playtest.
Not everybody will be able to try out the new game, with a set of strict restrictions applying to those who want to participate. Key among them is the requirement to have been a subscriber to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack from yesterday at the latest, and that your account has to be registered in a select group of regions. Here are the full application requirements:
- You must have an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership as of Thursday, 07/17/2025 03:00 p.m. PDT.
- You must be at least 18 years of age as of Thursday, 07/17/2025 03:00 p.m. PDT.
- Your Nintendo Account must be registered to one of the following countries: Japan, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Brazil, or Mexico.
Those wishing to apply to the Nintendo Switch Online Playtest Program can do so on the official application website from 6:00pm EDT today until 11:00am EDT on July 21, 2025. You’ll have to create an application in that timeframe.
Then, from 11:00am EDT on July 21 until the same time on July 23, you’ll need to lodge your application.
Entry for those outside of Japan is on a first-come-first-serve basis, and up to 40,000 participants will be allowed to join.
Players who are selected will be able to play on either a Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo Switch 2, although it’s unclear if the latter version will have bespoke features and functions or if it’s just the Nintendo Switch version running in backwards compatibility.
Players who participated in the last playtest in October 2024 can apply to this one, too.
Nintendo Playtest Program: What to Expect
Playtesters will be tasked with testing and providing feedback for an in-development game. Despite the non-disclosure agreement of the last playtest, some testers said that the game was somewhat similar to Minecraft, with MMO elements that had players building and working together in a large, shared world.
The playtest game will require an internet connection the entire time, and prior playtesters have recommended that you use a wired connection rather than a wireless connection to get the most out of it.
Players are expected to report any issues they find while playing the game, and it’s expected that, like last time, they’ll be asked not to share details, screenshots, or footage of the game.
