Nintendo Switch Online playtest seems to be a Minecraft-style MMO where everybody gets to build together

Earlier this month, Nintendo announced it would be testing new Switch features for Nintendo Switch Online members, with a closed playtest opening up to 10,000 subscribers and set to start this week. Preloads have started for the lucky few who were selected, and an FAQ reportedly accompanying the download has shone a light on a strange new game concept. 

The FAQ describes a “massive, expansive planet” on which players work together to build and create in the hopes of developing the whole planet. The document says that players will “discover new lands, enemies, and resources that will become essential to your journey.” 

Per the documentation, players will be given special items called beacons, which can be placed to create a dome-shaped building zone. Inside that zone, called the Beacon Zone, only the player who placed the beacon can move, lift, or edit items, while outside of a Beacon Zone, anyone can pick up objects, place them, and edit them. By the looks of it, it’s essentially a huge, shared Minecraft world, where players have their own private plot to safely build on but can explore the world at large to gather more resources to build with. 

The document also describes a place called the “Dev Core,” which is said to be a separate social space where players can gather and interact. You can also “level up your character” using Dev Points, which are earned by building within your Beacon Zone, and increasing your development level will let you get “convenient items for further development activities.” 

Another currency, called Connex Points, can be earned by interacting with other players, and can level up their connection level to gain “fun community-related items.” Of course, with players interacting and showing off user-generated content, there’s always the chance of abuse and wrongdoing, so Nintendo has put together a “UGC License” which involves players taking a test to “show that you understand the importance of respectful communication.” 

There doesn’t seem to be any specific IP attached to the game as of yet, and it could be an entirely new IP altogether. Player characters are somewhat reminiscent of large humanoid apes that have been smoothed down a bit to look a teensy bit like Fall Guys beans with large, glowing tails which can be used to grab items and interact with them. 

No gameplay footage has been released for the game yet, and it doesn’t seem to have a name yet either, with the game’s icon simply being that of the Nintendo Switch Online Playtest Program previously shown off in the announcement. Players were supposed to keep all this information to themselves, but this is 2024 and the internet exists, so that was never going to happen. When the actual playtest starts on October 23, 2024, we’re likely to see footage of the game released onto the internet, too.