Just weeks ago, Nintendo announced it would be hosting a new Switch Online Playtest Program. As part of this, it told participants to "not discuss or disclose" anything about it, and pretty much straight away, information about what to expect was leaked online.
Now, in an update, the playtest has gone live and users are already uploading screenshots, video footage and even streaming the game. According to a participant via social media, Nintendo hasn't bothered to disable screenshots or recordings for the playtest, so footage of this build can be archived.
Some players are currently streaming the playtest on sites like Twitch and YouTube, but it appears copyright takedowns are already being issued. While we won't be sharing anything here on Nintendo Life, footage and screenshots of this playtest are also circulating social media and elsewhere online like Reddit.
Nintendo originally drummed up excitement about this playtest by mentioning how it would be tied to a "new feature" for the Switch Online service. It was also promoted as a "first-come, first-serve" program, and is limited to select locations around the world, so not everybody can participate.
The fact takedowns are already being issued though seems to indicate Nintendo isn't joking around here. This isn't an isolated case. Valve's new multiplayer action Steam game Deadlock (which is currently in early development) was recently in a similar situation.
Were you lucky enough to get into the playtest? Are you at all surprised footage is already leaking online? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Comments 37
Nintendo should've just done what they did in the old days: invite the playtesters to their offices all over the world to do the playtest in person, then collect the data from the results. That way, Nintendo would ensure they keep it secret,, but also so they could use the footage for some promotional video to build up hype, like the VHS for Donkey Kong Country from Nintendo Power did, back in 1994.
@YoshiAngemon I think the point is that this will be a live service game, and they need to test their server network for player load in a live environment.
I almost guarantee they've been doing that kind of in-house testing for a while before this was announced.
I'll just copy/paste my impressions from the forum:
I'm having a great time with it! The scope is HUGE. Absolutely massive! Movement mechanics feel crisp and smooth, like Smash where they seem deceptively simple, but with some playing around you can come up with some advanced techniques. Already doing lots of surprisingly exciting things with movement. Without going into too much detail it feels a little like MHRise meets Spiderman?! 🤩
Performance so far is really great, almost everything loads quickly, it was a pretty smooth and consistent 60fps, didn't experience any frame rate dips at all after my initial 1-2 hour run. This was in handheld mode!
UI is also crisp and snappy, feels really great to click every input. I can tell they put a lot of thought and effort into the details, and I'm really enjoying my time so far!
The social aspect has been Journey-esque and hilarious! I've already laughed out loud a few times from whole groups of players messing around together.
I've played demos extensively of almost every builder game, like Dragon Quest Builders and Minecraft and etc., and my first impression is that this Playtest Program is more engaging and faster paced than any of them.
Honestly wouldn't mind for this to turn into an official NSO app, but more importantly, this engine and what they're capable of doing for an online-only game feels extremely promising for pretty much whatever they choose to make!
Having avoided all articles, comments etc. about the Playtest so far, to remain spoiler-free, I'm lol-ing at the continued 'not meant to talk about it' fauxtroversy.
Free Advertising 101: Tell everyone it's a secret.
Very fun and exciting getting to playtest something like this. Looking forward to whenever it's realised as a published title. Just imagine all the internet points I'll be creaming in the future from "I was there..."
And yet I still wanna see what it looks like but nobody has shown it...
@Samalik Maybe it's on the dark web, where Nintendo wouldn't dare go, unless they were desperate. Don't go to the dark web, your info would be at risk.
@YoshiAngemon Why did you have to say the dark web...
shudders
If Nintendo actually cared about keeping it all under wraps they easily have the resources to employ worldwide play testers who could sign actual legally binding NDA's, not choosing people based on who's the fastest to sign up.
Perhaps the real playtest here is for Nintendo's copyright lawyers and they're testing how quickly they can respond to leaked gameplay footage
I spent about two hours playing, and I find it to be a giant snooze and waste of time. I could never get into Minecraft-type games, though, so that’s on me, I guess. Overall, it’s just too opaque, as in there’s a ton going on, but it’s not clear at all how to do anything or even what you need to do after the first bit. I don’t think I’ll even open it again. If Nintendo had been more upfront about what this thing would be, I could have stepped aside and let someone else take my playtest spot who likes playing games like this where there’s almost literally no instruction or guidance.
They should have made them sign a NDA instead.
@scoot Nobody knows if another people replacing you would have appreciated the game. Nintendo needs all kind of feelings about their games, even if it's negative, because they need to understand why people dislike something. You did your job.
@scoot I feel very similarly. I normally hate tutorials in games, but it would really benefit from more explanations of what to do and how to do it. I also keep forgetting where I've placed important items, and I can't find any quick way to retrieve them or even locate them. The game really lacks that Nintendo charm too, in my opinion, and it looks very unfinished visually.
Wooow. Who would have thought this would happen. Consider me shocked. 🙄
Although I do find it surprising that screenshots were locked out. An oversight, maybe? Or was it on purpose to get some sort of publicity, which I can’t see being very likely…
I knew this would happen and I'd be surprised if Nintendo actually didn't expect it either (it's more likely than not that it was a publicity stunt other than of course the testing itself) - it's also quite indicative that they didn't disable screenshots or recordings as mentioned by the article.
Anyway, pretty cool to hear the experience of someone who took part in it here, looking forward to hearing and at this point also seeing more of it!
If you're not going to pay for someone to conduct your testing and instead get your userbase to do it for you for free then you have to expect to make certain compromises.
If Nintendo really had something top secret here they really didn't want people to see... they wouldn't have us lot anywhere near it!
Seems to me it's just a standard disclaimer so they can take stuff down if and when they choose. It's not like anyone signed an NDA or had to send in their driver's license is it?
Well, all this merry crowd from live streamers to folks like @Ulysses and @scoot here can go on to enjoy Nintendo potentially shrugging off the idea of wide playtests in the future and letting George fly the related future projects so that all the current loudmouths can go back to ranting about deficient online infrastructure instead.😜
But even speaking seriously, it's nothing but their own trustworthiness people are publicly throwing off a bridge, be it to praise what could change a hundred times (or even get canned) before official announcement/release or to bellyache about how they bit the wrong bait due to Nintendo's accursed secrecy. Or, in the streamers and uploaders' example, to score more clicks.
Is this a play test for the next system or just for beta testing games that have yet to be released?
@VHSGREMLIN my best guess would be for the next system, but whether or not what we're actually seeing is an early version of the game they're developing or not im unsure - they could have created this game simply to test their online instratructure to then be used for other unannounced title(s)
Well, Nintendo were either incredibly naive or just plan stupid to think this wouldn’t happen.
That said, if those streaming it get into trouble, they can’t say they weren’t warned.
Or maybe they can. The legal system is a complex one with loopholes. Which is probably why Nintendo is suing pal world over patent infringement instead of copyright. Probably easier to prove in a legal sense
Part of me thinks Nintendo could not have been this naive to think this wouldn’t happen that they in fact wanted it to happen
@ozwally thanks for the info.
What is for sure a big success, is that many people are talking about Nintendo and NSO.
Even though online games, community games, and building games are just not for me, I'm still curious and reading about it.
That they are requesting items be taken down, is another aspect imo, it makes it seem less serious to take these down than any other things they've done in the past in that regard. That could be a way to "clean" their image.
That Nintendo has an actual project, and would use that project for different purposes like I mentioned above... I would be quite impressed tbh.
They did tell people not to disclose content
I get that Nintendo is being unrealistic with their demands but personally I find it exasperating that these drama junkies are unable to go 2 seconds without poking the bear for some Internet fame
I don't believe one second that Nintendo is that tone deaf, it surely is an intentional marketing ploy to drum up attention. I mean how many headlining articles has Nintendolife had about this Playtest that in all fairness to normies is of absolutely no interest? See. Works.
If it was like a "Miiverse" using mii's only & like a remake of Playstation Home I'd be all for that.
I've been so busy that I haven't gotten around to trying it even though I got in, but I can definitely admire what they're going for here. Curious if it will keep its design or if they will create a new IP
That they're not going after anyone only reinforces my comment on the first article that they purposely put a flimsy request to not share so it would embolden people to unknowingly market this thing for free. And it's working super well. Kinda genius way to capitalize on how itchy people are to take shots at the Big N.
Honestly I don't see Nintendo not knowing that this would happen. In fact, I'd say they were counting on people to do this. They are probably measuring info spread of both people that followed the instructions and chasing those that are advertising not following the rules.
«While we won't be sharing anything here on Nintendo Life»
Meh.
There was a time long ago when a person could be trusted at their word alone. How has human integrity fallen so low?
I'm with some that think Nintendo isn't being as heavy-handed since this IS a good way to drum up interest. Still, you think the work "integrity" would have more meaning these days....
Maybe they are diverting attention away from Switch 2 and Pokemon leaks???
@Alpha008 Or maybe they don't actually care if people share it online because this is all for free publicity. people are way more interested in the game now then if Nintendo just dropped a trailer
People are reading way too much into this. It's literally mostly an honor code request. Yes, they know some people will leak it and they'll handle those cases they can. But other than that, they probably just want user feedback, server capacity test run, and maybe tease us a bit.
@YoshiAngemon GREAT first comment lol. better yet, the Killer Instinct teaser at the END of that Donkey Kong Country VHS
People aren't very bright and forget that Nintendo like to go after their very own. Somewhere in that long User Agreement you agreed to and didn't bother to read, it probably says Nintendo reserves the right to take legal action if you're caught. Nintendo isn't afraid to preserve its IP and services. They're cocky enough at this point with their reputation that they can sue anyone and people will still buy their stuff. How do we know this? Because it's already happening today. ANYTHING that messes with Nintendo and threatens their business they'll go after you. It's been that way since Nintendo of America started with pressing and threatening retailers to pull stock if they didn't abide by their strict policy. Same with developers. It took Sega coming in to shake things up and force Nintendo to lighten up and play nice. To this day, however, Nintendo will go after anybody for the most unpredictable reasons, big or small.
Nintendolife here, is smart enough to know not to give details because the moment they do, they know Nintendo will not only cut off their free supply of stuff for reviews and press kits they can resell and the likes, but they're also subject to legal action for violation, they have a legal team to keep them strait that DOES read user agreements or knows the basic content so Nintendolife can ride that line as close as they can without going over to catch your interest. But, the article was so long for such a simple subject, I didn't read it all anyway. So many news articles, so many different subjects from gaming to conflict in Ukraine and Israel, so many hours in the day
@BigRed40 Exactly this!
It’s just a simple request they made because it’s not yet meant for the public. There isn’t a complex marketing scheme going on here.
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