Splatoon 3

Splatoon 3 is the upcoming third entry in Splatoon series. It is currently scheduled to release on Nintendo Switch in 2022, and was revealed in the 2021-02-17 Nintendo Direct.

Development
Splatoon 3 will be the first game in the series to be localized into Korean and Chinese.

Story
The game takes place in the Splatlands, a sun-scorched desert inhabited by battle-hardened Inklings and Octolings, and Splatsville, a city of chaos, one and a half years after the final Splatfest, Chaos vs. Order. The outcome of the Splatfest is likely the reason the game’s design is themed around chaos.

Gameplay
Like its predecessors, Splatoon 3 is a third-person shooter game focused on online multiplayer battles, in which eight players are divided into two teams of four. Players have two main forms and may switch between the two at will: their humanoid form, in which they can use weapons to spread ink and splat opponents, and their squid or octopus form, which, if they enter their team's ink while in the form, allows them to swim through ink at great speed, including up walls, recharge their ink tank faster, and hide.

Characters
At this time, only two characters are known:
 * The player, an Inkling or Octoling
 * The player's "little buddy", a Smallfry

Modes
So far, Turf War is the only mode that has been confirmed.

Stages

 * A new stage is shown in the trailer, with a visual aesthetic very similar to Saltspray Rig or Salmon Run stages, but located in a desert wasteland instead of at sea.
 * A job listing for a level designer by Nintendo announced at the same time as the game's reveal includes "既存ステージの改修" (renovation of existing stages). This could either mean that stages from the previous games will be returning, or that the role's responsibilities will include fixing bugs and balance issues in stages after the game's release.

Changes and additions
Content and mechanics that were not present in Splatoon 2 are listed here.

Player customization
The default forms of the Inklings and Octolings are no longer gendered. Instead, the player "selects a style". Octolings can now be selected from the outset.

New player customization options have been added:
 * New eye colors, including heterochromatic eyes that form a gradient from one color to another.
 * Hairstyles and legwear are no longer gender-locked; any option can be chosen for any style of character.
 * New hairstyles - at least seven for Inklings and four for Octolings.
 * In keeping with the "chaos" theme, many of the new hairstyles are asymmetrical.
 * New legwear.
 * New gear.

Players now have a "little buddy"; a Smallfry with seven hair customization choices. This has been named "Monominugs" by the development team.

Main

 * A bow and arrow-style weapon was added. Once charged, it fires three strings of ink simultaneously. Its design seems to be based on a fishing rod, using the reel and string.
 * Several weapons already present in the previous games seem to have gone through a re-design, including the E-liter 4K Scope, Range Blaster, Splattershot, Hydra Splatling, Dynamo Roller, Sloshing Machine, and .96 Gal.

Special

 * A special weapon similar to the Inkzooka appears that fires three blobs of ink together.
 * The weapon is shown to eject white capsule-shaped shells when firing.
 * The character in the trailer using the special is the same character that uses the bow and arrow in the previous scenes, so it might be a part of that weapon's set.
 * A new miniature floating beam special weapon was added. Its design appears similar to miniature Killer Wails with the bottoms of Suction Bombs attached to them.
 * Crab-shaped robot that can transform into a ball.

Movement
Players will have access to new movement techniques to dodge attacks and expand the possibilities of attacks. "Squid roll" allows them to leap and twirl out of their ink, and a "squid surge" allows them to quickly swim up ink-covered walls and jump out at the top.

A new type of spawn point is used during online battles called Spawner Drone. It floats above the stage and allows players to aim at their desired deployment location. After choosing where to deploy, the spawn point launches players to that location in squid or octopus form. The regular spawn point is available during the match.

Music
The trailer contains a new remix of Splattack!, different from both the original version and the Octo Expansion remix. It is currently unknown if this remix will be included in the game, or if it was created only for the trailer.

Trivia

 * In the Splatoon 3 announcement trailer footage, it can be seen during the Turf War match that the bow and arrow player starts at the yellow team and switches over to the purple team mid-match.


 * This is the first Splatoon installment in the series to take place outside of Inkopolis.