Splatoon 3 'Chill Season 2023' Update Revealed, Launches December 1st

I just want my Famicom Zapper back.

I'll admit this trailer just confused me more than it informed me the first time I watched it, they're usually better at actually showing what's new in the coming season. Regardless I'm looking forward to seeing all the things this update will bring!

I'm so happy seeing Bluefin Depot return and hope in the following seasons they rescue Urchin Underpass and Saltspray Rig (the final 2 Splatoon 1 stages that aren't currently in Splatoon 2 or Splatoon 3). The other content this season also looks cool, especially the new stage and the new King Salmonid so yeah it seems like an exciting season ahead.

I do wish they ditched the Sheldon tickets system though and returned to the Splatoon 1 and 2 system for buying weapons. All these new weapons, subs and specials are kind of meaningless when it takes so long to get the tickets.

What’s actually new though? It’s not very clear.

@gizmo998 The 2 stages played on in the trailer are new, there's a new special weapon (the Splattercolor Screen), all the weapons shown will have new kits (the Painbrush, Reef-lux, Splatana Stamper, Splat Dualies, Blaster, S-Blast, Undercover Brella, and Squeezer), the music is new, there's new clothing options, and a glimpse of a new Big Run stage (Barnacle & Dime) and a new king salmonid.

Can't blame you for asking though as there was not much of a write-up here.

@Yosher Glad it wasn't just me, I too usually get hyped, but I was more confused at what I'm seeing. Either way, splatoon never gets old for me, gonna finish this season out strong!

@umegames What's confusing? It shows all the new weapons, stages, music and new special. Looked pretty clear to me.

Please be a Squiffer alt... Please please PLEASE let there be another kit for the Squiffer... I would sell my soul for that.

So is it still safe to start playing Splatoon 3? Or based on history, it's about to be replaced by Splatoon 4?

I really dislike live service games due to this practice of making games unplayable. Paid releases should never become unplayable...

@RenanKJ from my memory, updates should go on until late 2024. maybe 2025 if my dreams become real and we get a 3rd dlc.

but fn judging from the lifespan of 1 and 2, i’d say that a potential Splatoon 4 won’t be announced until between 2026-2027. maybe even later.

Damn you guys are late with this news.

@RenanKJ About to be replaced? The gap between 2 and 3 was like 5 years. 4 will definitely be on the Switch's successor and is likely years away. I'm guessing 2026 or 27.

@RenanKJ 2 years of updates was announced for the game so if that stays, the last new content will be the June - August 2024 season. Then you potentially have to take into account Animal Crossing so perhaps:

• Animal Crossing New Leaf - November 2012 (Japan)/June 2013 (rest of the world)
• Splatoon - May 2015
• Splatoon 2 - July 2017
• Animal Crossing New Horizons - March 2020
• Splatoon 3 - September 2022
• Animal Crossing for Switch 2 - Fall/Holiday 2024 (Switch 2 launch title) or Spring 2025
• Splatoon 4 - 2027/2028

@RenanKJ It was safe to start when it came out, it sold like 3 and a half million on opening weekend with a total 8 Million in its first month. Not sure how many concurrent players there are but it’s generally seconds to get into another Turf War battle, seconds to a minute for lower rank Ranked battle, seconds to 2 minutes for rank S and above, X battle…sometimes you want to watch youtube or something while waiting in the queue, but that’s been like that since 2 (the time of day matters, too).

Also, support as in new maps and weapons should be guaranteed until this time next year. Splatoon 2 went beyond 2 years because of the Special Splatfests past the Final Fest. So we may see something similar. And some weapons will get a 3rd version, like Sheldon’s picks in Splat1 and the Toni Kensa weapons in Splat2. I hope that all weapons will get a 3rd version this time around. Just because new weaopns, maps, and gear stop coming out doesn’t mean the game dies instantly. There’s still balance patches and Nintendo still holds their national tournaments in Japan so the game will still be alive for a couple years past the end of content updates.

Honestly, the best time to enjoy a game with live services is when it’s active and has people playing. And while Nintendo’s online my range from great down to dubious quality depending who you ask, they like to keep their online gaming running longer than many others would pull the plug. Put it this way, Splatoon 1 is still up! It’ll end up being 8 years and 10 months online before shutting down.

can't wait to face Joe...or go black and white.

I was ardently collecting the full catalogs every season, but once TotK came out, I really fell off the bandwagon, and have been having trouble getting back on the saddle again.

Hopefully this new update is the one that ropes me back in before Side Order is released. I have a lot of catching up to do.