Nintendo is playing a mysterious new Switch Online feature with up to 10,000 people this month

In a moment of enigmatic reverie, Nintendo has announced that it will be testing a mysterious new Switch Online feature later this month, and is inviting up to 10,000 people to join in.

Nintendo, never one to prioritize form over function, is calling this newly announced venture the Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program, and the only clue it’s willing to share at the moment is that it’s explicitly “related to a new feature for the Nintendo Switch Online -service. ”

To this end, participants must have an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, and the playtest will require them to download “exclusive software” to their Switch console to participate.

To participate, participants must be at least 18 years old and have a Nintendo Account registered in Japan, US, UK, France, Germany, Italy or Spain. Entries open via Nintendo’s registration form on October 10th at 6:00 PM PDT and close on October 15th. The playtest itself runs from October 23 to November 5.

So what could it be? Something related to that clock thing? The long-awaited relaunch of Miiverse? An update that magically turns your console into Switch 2? Pre-emptive legal action for anything Nintendo wants to do after this week? Answers on a postcard below.