Splatfest

Splatfest

Battle alongside players on your Splatfest team.^(NA)^[a]
Battle alongside players who voted the same way as you.^(EU/OC)^[b]

Type	Online multiplayer mode (with Turf War being the only mode)
Players	8 (4v4) (all games) 8 (4v2x2) (Splatoon 3 only)
Ranked	No
Weapons	All
Controllers	GamePad Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Release Date	Launch (playable only during event)

For the Octo Valley mission of a similar name, see Spreader Splatfest.

For the individual Splafest events, see Splatfest events.

“	Pick a side and battle it out in these special Turf War events. Find out about the latest Splatfests in Inkopolis Plaza, and be sure to pledge allegiance to your favorite side in the week leading up! Then help your side win by competing in Turf War battles!	”
— Splatoon's official website, ^[1]

Splatfest, known as Festival or Fes in Japan, is a special event in Splatoon, Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3. In Splatoon 1 and Splatoon 2, players chose between two teams, such as Cats or Dogs, and in Splatoon 3, players will choose between 3 teams, such as Rock, Paper, or Scissors, and compete in Turf Wars for Super Sea Snails.

Description

Splatoon

Inkopolis Plaza during the event.

In Splatoon, Splatfests were recurring events hosted by the Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie. During this event, Inklings were able to choose between two teams and participate in battles against each other. Inklings were limited to two colors during the Splatfest, reflecting which side they were on. The clothing section of the equip screen also became locked and all players were forced to wear the Splatfest Tee, which changed in color and design based on an Inkling's chosen team, although they could still change hats, shoes, and weapons. Inkopolis Plaza and all the stages were decorated with a flood of Miiverse posts from the Splatfest/Festival tag on the Splatoon community, some of which took the form of neon signs, banners, and even fireworks. Nighttime also descended over Inkopolis and all Turf War stages. Fireworks went off periodically in the Plaza, and specks of light resembling fireflies or fire embers could be seen rising into the sky. Both Callie and Marie danced throughout the entire duration of this event, singing and dancing to City of Color.

For the most part, each Splatfest lasted 24 hours, during which time the region involved was isolated and Splatfest players would only face off against players from their own region. Meanwhile, all other regions continued to play amongst each other. A few choice Splatfests deviated from these rules. Super Sea Snails were awarded to participating players upon Splatfest's conclusion.

Splatoon 2

Splatfests returned in Splatoon 2, now hosted by Off the Hook's members, Pearl and Marina. Besides this, the structure was largely the same. Although Miiverse is not compatible with the Nintendo Switch, Splatoon 2's exclusive drawing feature allows for players to submit doodles that appear in-game as neon signs, banners, fireworks, or graffiti, as well as upload doodles to social media accounts. Inkopolis Square is decorated similarly to Inkopolis Plaza in the first game and all areas once again become locked in nighttime as Pearl and Marina perform Color Pulse in Inkopolis Square.

In a similar vein to Callie vs. Marie, Chaos vs. Order (also known as Final Fest: Splatocalypse) was heavily promoted as Splatoon 2's final Splatfest, featuring many special and unique characteristics, and would influence events of the sequel. Despite that, 2020 would see four additional Splatfests hosted after a year of inactivity, during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving players further entertainment during lockdown. The first three additional Splatfests were rematches of previous Splatfests, with largely unchanged dialogue.^[c] Dialogue from the fourth (and only original) additional Splatfest, Super Mushroom vs. Super Star, did briefly mention how the Splatocalypse was meant to be the final Splatfest with no mention of the previous three rematches, suggesting they were non-canonical.

Splatoon 3

Splatfests are now hosted by Shiver, Frye, and Big Man of Deep Cut in Splatoon 3. They all parade through Splatsville for the duration of the Splatfest, which are now a battle between three different teams, each represented by a different member. Each member has their own float, however they all combine to form one large stage that remains stationary after the Halftime Report.

As Splatoon 3 does not have separate regional versions like previous games, players are instead given the option to set a Splatfest Region. The available Splatfest Regions and their respective languages are as follows:

Japan
- Japanese
Americas, Australia, and New Zealand^[d]
- English
- French (Canada)
- Spanish (Latin America)
Europe
- English
- Dutch
- French (France)
- German
- Italian
- Russian
- Spanish (Spain)
Hong Kong and South Korea
- English
- Chinese (Simplified)
- Chinese (Traditional)
- Korean

Players are able to change their region freely before Splatfests begin, but will not be able to change it for a period of time if changing it once a Splatfest has begun. If a player's console is set to a language that is not available in their Splatfest Region, then Splatfest-related text will appear in a different language, such as Anarchy Splatcast broadcasts and Splatfest teams.

In Splatoon 3, battles played between the time the Splatfest is announced and when it begins, known as the Splatfest Sneak Peek, also contribute to the final results.

Inkopolis Plaza the day before a Splatfest.

Preparation

Before a Splatfest begins, Inkopolis Plaza, Inkopolis Square and Splatsville experience a variety of visual upgrades to prepare for the event. One week before a Splatfest in Splatoon, a voting booth appeared next to the Miiverse mailbox and the event's theme was announced by Callie and Marie during their Inkopolis News segment. Pearl and Marina similarly announce the event's theme a week prior during their Off the Hook segment in Splatoon 2, while the voting booth appears in the Square. The same is true for Splatoon 3, where Deep Cut will announce the theme approximately a week before the Splatfest begins. The voting booth will also appear at this time.

Players receive a themed Splatfest Tee, a piece of gear that is wearable only until the Splatfest ends when they join a team. Two days before a Splatfest in Splatoon, neon signs adorned with up and down pointing arrows appeared on walls and buildings, and the day before it took place, the Plaza became noticeably more crowded and two large trucks supporting stage scaffolding appeared in the area's center.

In Splatoon 2, one day before the Splatfest, a large performance stage appears in the Square, above the entrance to the battle lobby. On the tower behind the stage is a screen displaying the two battling teams' mascots. There are also large black lattice boards, which, later on, become the area where posts are featured in the form of neon signs.

In Splatoon 3, floats for Deep Cut will begin to appear around the city at the same time as the announcement. In addition, a T-shirt booth along with the Splatfest voting board appears near the spawn point. Metal framing with neon signs and small flags also appear scattered around Splatsville, featuring posts seen in the city. 2 days before the Splatfest, the time of day in Splatsville will change to evening. The entrance of the Unnamed Battle Lobby Tower gains a wooden framing around it as well as various lanterns.

During a Splatfest, Regular and Ranked Battle options are not available, as they are temporarily replaced by the Splatfest Battle option; however, Private Battles and Salmon Run can still be accessed.^[2]

Modes

“	Oh, while you're deciding, we have more Splatfest findings to share. It seems there are two types of Splatfest battles: Open and Pro. Choose Open to squad up with your friends or play solo against randoms. Pro mode is serious business for solo players only. You can try both!	”
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter^[3]

In Splatoon 2, there are two ways to enter Splatfest Battles as of Version 4.0.0: Normal and Pro. Normal mode lets the player either start solo or battle with two to four friends by joining together in a private lobby before choosing to find other random players. Players from the same team can continue being matched up together in the same lobby if they choose to continue after the end of a match. Pro mode works identically to how Solo mode worked before this version; the player cannot team up with friends and is automatically matched with three other players. Players from the same team are not matched up in the same lobby after a match.

Before Version 4.0.0, there were two other options for Splatfest Battles: Solo and Team. Solo mode worked like Splatfests in Splatoon; the player was automatically matched with three other players and battled against groups of four random players from the opposing team. However, as opposed to the original game, players from the same team were not automatically matched up in the same lobby after a match. Team mode required four players (that must be friends with someone from the same team who is in the lobby) to join a private lobby before being matched up against another team of four.^[4]

In Splatoon 3, there are three different Splatfest Battle modes, Open, Pro, and Tricolor. Open and Pro are available for the entirety of the Splatfest, while Tricolor is only available for players on one of the losing teams after the Halftime Report. Open and Pro function identically to Normal and Pro mode in Splatoon 2, with the exception that in Open mode, after the Halftime Report, the players on the winning team may randomly play a Tricolor Turf War with players from the losing teams that selected Tricolor battle. Pro mode is unaffected by the Halftime Report, and Tricolor Turf Wars will not occur there.

Mechanics

Splatfest Power

Splatfest Power Level of the team shown before starting a Splatfest Turf War.

Main article: Power level

Splatfest Power was a feature introduced in Version 2.6.0 of Splatoon as a way of tracking players' skill during Splatfests, replacing the Vibe meter. While Splatfest matchmaking was previously based on play styles, players were then matched based on similar Splatfest Power levels. It was initially determined by one's Rank and may rise or fall depending on how well one did in battles.

After each Splatfest Battle, players on the winning team got roughly ten points toward their Splatfest Power and the losing team lost roughly ten, depending on the difference between the two teams' Splatfest power level, while the player on the winning team with the highest Splatfest Power gained an additional one to two points.

The top 100 players with the highest Splatfest Power were shown on SplatNet and on the social network sites of Splatoon.

Splatfest Power returned in Splatoon 2, where the player's initial Splatfest Power is based on their performance in their first seven matches. The top 100 players are displayed in SplatNet 2 and can be viewed under each Splatfest event. As of Version 5.3.1, to adjust fairness in matchmaking and to prevent improper behavior, the names and levels of all players in a match are not shown on the lobby waiting screen and are replaced with question marks if the player's Splatfest Power is above 2,200. Due to this, players are able to battle against people blocked in their Nintendo Switch system settings as long as their power is also this high.

Clout

Clout is a mechanic introduced in version 4.0.0 of Splatoon 2 that is used to determine the winner in Splatfests as opposed to strictly using the win rate. Clout is counted separately for two of the available Splatfest Battle modes, Normal and Pro. Battling against the same Splatfest team does not contribute to the Clout score.

In Normal mode, players can multiply their Clout by a factor of up to ×2.0 based on the Synergy Bonus they get if they win the match. Synergy Bonuses are earned by having matching gear, weapons, and appearance, which are also tied into the team names players get during Splatfests. An example of the highest possible Synergy bonus would be if all four players were Inkling boys with the ponytail hairstyle and dressed in the Soccer Headband, Blue Sea Slugs and Aerospray PG. The nickname will be "The Ponytail Soccerband Blue Sea Slug Bronze Aero gang."

Conditions	Synergy Bonus factor
Either hairstyle, gender, or species matching	+ 0.1×
Main weapon type matching	+ 0.2×
Sub weapons matching	+ 0.2×
Special weapons matching	+ 0.2×
All different main weapon types	+ 0.2×
Only two main weapons matching	+ 0.1× (Counts only for the teammates matching)
Only three main weapons matching	+ 0.2× (Counts only for the teammates matching)
All main weapons matching	+ 0.3×
Headgear genre matching	+ 0.2×
Headgear brand matching	+ 0.2×
Only two headgear matching	+ 0.1× (Counts only for the teammates matching)
Only three headgear matching	+ 0.2× (Counts only for the teammates matching)
All headgear matching	+ 0.3×
Shoe genre matching	+ 0.2×
Shoe brand matching	+ 0.2×
Only two shoes matching	+ 0.1× (Counts only for the teammates matching)
Only three shoes matching	+ 0.2× (Counts only for the teammates matching)
All shoes matching	+ 0.3×

^[5]

The multiplier begins at ×1.0, where each matching element adds to the factor. For example, if a team has all matching hairstyles and all matching shoes, they will get a Synergy Bonus of ×1.0 + ×0.1 + ×0.3 = ×1.4.

10x, 100×, and 333x Battles

“

SRL checking in now that the Splatfest is live. Did you know that a 10x Battle can randomly occur? Our Stats dept. is still calculating the probability of one happening, but if you see one, get ready to splat with everything you've got - you could earn 10x the Clout!

Winning a 10x Battle also earns everyone on your team a festival shell. And if you team up with other players with lots of festival shells, the odds of triggering a 100x Battle increase! What happens if both teams trigger a 100x Battle at the same time? An ultra-rare 333x Battle!

Now, if you play in a 100x or a 333x Battle, you'll lose all your festival shells. But isn't it worth it for a chance at all that Clout? (Trust us - it is.) Plus, 100x or 333x winners will also get a Splatfest Star above their nickname for the rest of the Splatfest. So cool!

”

— @SplatoonNA on Twitter^[6]^[7]^[8]

Normal, Open and Pro modes occasionally feature 10×, 100× and 333× Battles, where the Clout score is multiplied by a factor of ten, 100 or 333 if the team won.

In Splatoon 2, 100× Battles occurred every ten minutes at their introduction, but around June 2019 were changed to occur every five minutes,^[9] while 10× Battles occur more frequently. The 100× Battle rate was later increased again in celebration of Final Fest, where approximately ten 100× Battles can happen in a minute. This increased rate was still in place for the special encore Splatfests that were held afterwards and the Super Mushroom vs. Super Star Splatfest.^[10]^[11] The Synergy Bonus is rounded to the nearest integer before the 10× or 100× bonus is applied. Losing a 10× or 100× Battle adds no bonus to Clout.

They function slightly differently in Splatoon 3. Here, 10× Battles are much more common and will reward the winning players with festival shells. These increase the odds of a 100× Battle occurring. 333× Battles can rarely occur if both teams manage to activate a 100× Battle at once, with the odds increasing depending on how many festival shells each player has. When winning a 100× or 333× Battle, the winning team will perform a unique victory animation. 10×, 100×, and 333× battles can not occur during a Tricolor Turf War.

Exclusive to Splatoon 2, the winners of both types of battles get featured in a newsflash that is displayed as text in the lobby, as text on the SplatNet 2 app, and as an image on the Splatfest booth in the Square. Images of 100× winners are also displayed on SplatNet 2. Newsflashes of players that win a 100× Battle are displayed for all players of their Splatfest, while newsflashes of players that win a 10× Battle are displayed for themselves and their friends who are playing during the same Splatfest. If a player won a 100× Battle, the newsflash of their victory would display on their session for around half an hour before displaying winners of other battles. The news images of the winners from these battles showed the players striking different poses, where the winners from a 100× Battle would be holding a large check.

Splatfest team names

Main article: Splatfest team names

Splatoon 2's Version 4.0.0 introduced special team names for individual teams of four (not to be confused with the overall Splatfest team) which were assigned if the whole team has matching gear, weapons, or appearance.

Splatfest team names are separated into five main categories, each of which has one slot in the final team name, meaning there can only be up to five name parts in a team name. Under these categories are a number of sub-series that determine what the displayed name unit should be if there are more matching properties within a category.

Main category	Sub-series and priority
Headgear	Headgear name > brand > genre
Shoes	Shoe name > brand > genre
Weapons	Main weapons > specials ? subs ? weapon types ? different weapon types^[e]
Player customization	Hairstyles > species > gender
Group name	(Automatically assigned if the player has any of the previous categories)

For example, if everyone on the team has matching hairstyles, species, and gender, the game will only choose the hairstyle for the team's name. If a team only has matching species and gender, the game will choose species for the team's name.

The Synergy Bonus and Splatfest team names are closely related as they are both determined by the same factors, but not everything that warrants a Synergy Bonus has an equivalent team name. Some bonuses are earned by just having two or three teammates with matching properties, while Splatfest team names are only earned if all teammates match.

Reward Tiers

Super Sea Snails are awarded to participants based on the size of their team, matches won, and ground covered, which dictate each player's Splatfest Title.