Players are streaming Nintendo’s Switch Online Playtest despite requests not to

Several users are streaming Nintendo‘s currently ongoing Nintendo Switch Online playtest, despite one of the conditions of joining the playtest being that players can’t share information about the game.

VGC can verify that several players have streamed the test on YouTube and Kick, with clips of the test quickly being reposted on social media, despite the original streams being taken down.

The test, which was announced earlier this month, is simply named ‘Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program’ and began earlier this week, where it will run until November 6.

Players who successfully signed up for the mystery test were sent documentation on the program, including a series of requirements for those looking to participate.

One of these is a requirement to keep the contents of the test secret. The page reads: “We request that you do not discuss or disclose content from either the Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program test software or website with others.”

Based on other similar tests, it’s perhaps unsurprising that these steams have appeared. Despite Nintendo’s attempt to remove the streams on their original platforms, the proliferation of footage from the project has lifted any veil of secrecy around it.

Screenshots of the game appeared earlier this week that appear to show a game that looks similar to Minecraft, but with various ‘Beacons’ containing separate play areas, placed on a giant planet. “The higher your Beacon is placed, the wider its Beacon Zone becomes”, the app says.

It also shows a separate area called the Dev Core, which the game describes as “a social hub to gather with other players”. It adds: “At the Dev Core, you can level up your character, get items you will need for your journey, commune with others, and more.”