We all expected Splatoon 3 to be a huge hit in Japan, but the third mollusc shooter has taken the entire world by storm since its release two weeks ago. It's even made an impact in countries where it hasn't been released! One such case is in China — as highlighted by Niko Partners Senior Analyst Daniel Ahmad — where 46% of streamers across several Chinese streaming services streamed Splatoon 3 since its 9th September launch.
This data has been taken from Niko Partners' China Games Streaming Tracker, and it shows that not only are 46% of streamers broadcasting their ink-tastic gameplay, but 72% of tips on the three services listed (DouYu, Huya, and Bilibili) have also gone to Splatoon 3 streams.
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Even though Nintendo's inklings and octolings haven't officially made a splat in China, that hasn't stopped streamers from importing the game. Splatoon 3 is also the first game in the series to have a Simplified Chinese localisation, which is likely widening the game's appeal in the country:
Back in 2021, Nintendo was the market leader in China. Nintendo partnered with Tencent to release the Switch in the country in 2019, which has sold 1 million units. We're sure Splatoon 3 will eventually splash land in China officially which will likely help the console boost Nintendo's place in the market even more. The Switch OLED model launched in China in January 2022, just three months after its worldwide release.
- Further reading - Nintendo Is Now The Market Leader In Video Gaming's Biggest Region
In more Splatoon 3 news, the next Splatfest is taking place this weekend. Make sure you check out our guide to find out what time the competition kicks off in your region or head here to track the best deals on the game if you're yet to buy a copy.
Are you impressed with Splatoon 3's worldwide impact? Take a dip in the comments to share your thoughts!
[source nikopartners.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 10
@Sequel Nothing, absolutely nothing, everyone gots there taste, and sometimes even limits for games, maybe, you hit your,
@Sequel nothing. Splatoon is a full on multiplayer experience mostly, I can see why you’re not in rush. I dropped out of 2, but I did get my hands 3 day one since I hadn’t played it in a while.
Splatoon 2 came out on a time where Splatoon 1 was still a fresh memory and many other cool games had my attention, so I kinda of missed on the online part of that game – came back later for the single player campaign and DLC.
Splatoon 3 had me hooked since the Splatfest Demo. Finished the single player and am enjoying the online battles as much as I did on Splatoon 1 (the new card game is fun too)
I'm surprised its allowed over there tbh. With china having such strict laws i would think it would be banned on the spot for being a shooter.
@Bluelink45
Given Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has hit the scene, there wouldn't be that much of a reason to exclude Splatoon 3 unless it was explicitly violent. The game strategically uses different terms to make it appropriate for kids to play.
However, one reason Splatoon could be banned is for the cultural implications, particularly involving character design and characteristics
Removed - inappropriate
Makes perfect sense to me! Despite the obvious cultural differences between China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan there is a lot of overlap when it comes to taste in gaming. So, despite it not launching yet in Mainland China the fact that Splatoon fever is already taking over is not surprising to me and I can only see the series hitting a sales explosion once officially on Chinese shores (after removing Japanese symbols of course. The game will still be censored).
@RubyCarbuncle "we fire them at you while you only have a charger". oh yeah anger problems. yeah yeah git gud they say...sure with enough tries one will eventually work.
@RubyCarbuncle
My gosh I feel you.
That one where you hit the balloon targets with 3 weapons and one was a charger.
I just said 'welp guess I'm not 100 percenting this game then' XD
I wonder how their "communication error has occurred" situation is over there.
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