Nintendo Reveals Revival of Switch Online: Playtest Program

Okay, so here’s the thing. Nintendo popped up with this news about a playtest for their Online thingy, starting from July 28 to August 10, 2025. A bunch of folks can jump in—if you’re fast enough. Like, first-come, first-served, you know? Subscribers from all corners of the globe, almost. Anyway, it got me thinking: do they do this often? And, well, yeah, they’ve been at it since 2018 with this Online service on Nintendo Switches. In 2024, they had this thing (sandbox something?)—but enough of that rabbit hole.

Now, they’re saying 40,000 lucky ones will get in on this upcoming party. It’s like a golden ticket from July 21 at 8 am PT. But hold up—you’ve gotta be rocking that Expansion Pack, be 18 or older, and from a list of countries. It’s a long list, but hey, I guess that makes it exclusive or something. What will they do in this test? No clue. Sounds mysterious, huh?

2025’s looking pretty wild for Nintendo. Earlier this year, they threw in some old-school GameCube games for their fancy members. Like F-Zero GX and Soulcalibur 2. Not gonna lie, Wind Waker kinda made me nostalgic.

And just when you think that’s it, we hit rumor-ville. Some whispers hint at five new Nintendo 64 classics making their way over. If that’s true, those oldies like Donkey Kong 64 might be fun. But, real talk, those N64 releases have been kinda slow. Guess we’ll see if that rumor pans out.

Switch Online keeps flexing with these games and features. Play in Super Smash Bros with randos, or chill in Animal Crossing. Play without digging into your wallet too deep, there’s a voucher system for game discounts. And by the way, did you hear? There’s music from Nintendo games now available on apps. Imagine listening to Zelda soundtracks while you do laundry. Worth a shot, maybe.

So yeah, loads going on with Nintendo right now. Safe to say they know how to keep things spicy, or at least interesting, for their fans. Who’d have guessed?