Splatoon 3 Physical Release Bundled With Expansion Pass DLC Announced

Good! Splatoon 3 doesn't have regional differences, unlike Splatoon 2. I might get this as I haven't bought the DLC yet.

Awesome. I skipped Splatoon 3 for precisely this reason. Hopefully there won't be any more software updates either.

I just wish that we had gotten a complete release of Splatoon 2 in the West seeing as it was issued separate versions by region, unlike Splatoon 3, which is identical internationally.

And these releases have always included, at the very least, the flag to access all of the DLC on the cartridge itself (though in the cases of MK8D and Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, their "complete" releases were rushed to shelves, meaning that users still had to download the entirety of the software updates to access the content 🙄).

AU/NZ announced too, so hopefully all regions will get this

Cool but that box looks terrible!

@SillyG The most recent Japanese revisions of Scarlet and Violet have the DLC on cartridge, even though the box still says there's a download required.

Curious to see what the pricing on this is like. It's a 2-year old game at this point so with DLC included it should retail for €60... but this is Nintendo so it'll probably be about €80-90.

So after 3 months will the game cart be rendered useless as you wouldn't be able to use any of the games features of dlc online? 🤔

That box art.....🤮
Maybe it has a reversible art

Starting with? Isn't this the last or next to last season of new updates? 😂

@SillyG

There will almost certainly be more software updates. Splatoon 3 gets updated every few months with a new season, complete with new weapons, stages, etc. It's also frequently updated for balance, as it's an online shooter.

Nice to see, if the price is $60, but then again if Switch 2 launches early next year w/ Splatoon 4, and why wouldn't it, you may not be getting as much out of this game as you'd hope.

Though w/ the Switch install base and Switch 2 availability I suppose 2 years of Splatoon 3 should be enough for anyone.

Now can we get Mario Kart 8 w/ everything on disc for $60 now that it's done?

@rjejr

There was only 1 year between Splatoon 1 & Splatoon 2 and it'll probably be around 3 years of Splatoon 3 (fitting) when Splatoon 4 likely launches in year 1 of Switch 2.

Seems fair to me, especially considering games like CoD get a new version ever year.

@rjejr I doubt the Switch 2 will launch with Splatoon 4. Especially if backwards compatibility is a thing, I could see them extending 3's lifespan

@The_Blue_Mage

I expect there to be a Splatoon 4 in the launch year. Splatoon 3 will be 3 years old at that point and they'll want to get as many Splatoon players as possible to upgrade to the new system.

There was a longer wait between Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3, but I believe that this gap was partially due to the pandemic delaying the development of Splatoon 3.

@RushDawg "There was only 1 year between Splatoon 1 & Splatoon 2"

Which 1 year was that, 2016? Splatoon was released in May 2015 and Splatoon 2 in July 2017 so while there may have only been 1 year "between" the 2 it's actually over 2 years, 25 months, between games. Plus 1 was on Wii U and 2 on Switch, which had no backwards compatibility whatsoever.

I still would consider waiting though. If you haven't jumped into Splatoon 3 by now why bother now?

@The_Blue_Mage "I doubt the Switch 2 will launch with Splatoon 4"

Probably not "launch with" but launch "window", which the last I checked had gotten up to about 1 year with Nintendo. 😁 They'll want to show off some nice graphics on Switch 2 when they formally announce it, and Splatoon 4 will be a nice way to do that. That game would really pop w/ HDR support. And Switch launched w/ Splatoon 2 so why not launch Switch 2 w/ Splatoon 4? 🤷‍♂️

@rjejr They are probably referring to the gap between the final Splatfest and the release of the new game:

• Splatoon 1 - Released May 2015, FinalFest was in July 2016
• Splatoon 2 - Released July 2017, FinalFest was in July 2019, final bonus Splatfest was in January 2021
• Splatoon 3 - Released in September 2022

So if the pattern was to continue, Splatoon 4 would be announced whenever the Switch 2 is revealed and release in the Switch 2's first year.

I don’t play the Splatoon games.

Serious question: after the online goes away, what’s left? I guess if I was a super fan of this game I would probably buy it but if it’s live service then it would basically become useless. Again, I don’t really know much of this series beyond its design aesthetics and art.

@Blast16 You can still play the story mode and do local play

@Blast16 The single player campaign would be the only thing left, so it’s good for the lore. While the official online servers are down for the first game, there are unofficial servers that people are playing on. I don’t see Nintendo shutting down the servers for Splatoon 2 anytime soon since Nintendo tends to keep their online servers up for a long time.

@RainbowGazelle : Yeah, I'd heard about that. I relented and bought the Aussie releases, but I was otherwise royally p'ed off that they were released without absolutely everything on the carts.

Oh, hell yeah! Finally! An Aussie release for one of these bundles!

And it's relatively cheap too, with one store taking pre-orders for AU$84 (US$55), while the base game is AU$69 (US$46), which normally retails for AU$79.95.

I only wish that a Spatloon 2 bundle would follow (along with other games), but I won't keep my hopes up.

I would particularly love a Fire Emblem Engage all-in-one release.

@SillyG
There is going to be lots more content updates for Splatoon 3 even after this releases. It's the nature of the game.

@Grumblevolcano Thanks for the explanation, had never heard of, nor even considered, people talking about the time between new game releases based on dlc, that’s just a really odd way of describing things. Though I suppose in a GaaS world that’s the way it is. By that logic if No Man’s Sky 2 were released next week we’d have to say NMS 1 & 2 released in the same year.🤷🏻‍♂️ This is why I’ll never play FF11 and 14 despite how much I have invested in FF.

Anyway, Splatoon 4 year 1 launch window still seems likely so why buy this now? Says the guy waiting to buy MK8DX Complete.🤪

I enjoyed following along the splatfests and really like the Splatoon 3 hosts, but ultimately the customization was still not where I want it to be. And once you wait at least a year, a live service game like Splatoon loses its luster on the backend of its live support. Plus the desert theme wasn't really my jam.

I'll probably jump on Splatoon 4 on day one, since I get the feeling a Switch 2 Splatoon will really up the ante. I also hope that some of the experimental, more dynamic abilities found in Side Order will bleed into the next installment.

@Poyidoya You're right that Amazon seem to have sold out of copies for the time being. But yeah, a Facebook group I'm part of tracks Switch cartridge revisions. People in the group have definitely received cartridges with the DLC included on there. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet + DLC cartridges are up to revision #004 so far. You can see the latest known cartridge revisions of all Switch games here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CEABCBrPv1tWf89hSZqUunK0JW-sQo8XpxuvZhdtHQs/edit?gid=0#gid=0 and the Facebook group here if you want to contribute: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1213697449370032

Wow thats what I call an ugly box art...
I'm totally into physical but Splatoon is anyway dead as soon as Nintendo cuts the online support...

They could've gone with something way more subtler. But I guess it is what it is. Splatoon is one of the new franchises I just couldn't really get into myself, as I don't really enjoy multiplayer shooters that much.

I might consider if the DLC is on the card but if it's a download code then I'm not interested.

Now if only they could do this with Smash bros Ultimate, because that's the one thing that's holding me back from buying it.

Maybe if they also do this with Mario Kart 8 and Pokken Tournament too. I want all of my DLC released physical.

@Blast16 The competitive aspect of Splatoon is Live-service. Entirely free too, minus owning a copy.

It's the Single Player content is just that. And there was also a paid DLC release for it as you are seeing here. Just glad they are doing this in general.

@JalapenoSpiceLife Splatoon isn't online only

So the final lesson on all of this is Doug Bowser is terrible

@JalapenoSpiceLife The DLC doesn't have anything online at all and the main game has plenty of single player content.

Interesting that they priced it cheaper than the Splatoon 3 + Expansion Pass eshop pricing. Physical is £59.99 on the My Nintendo Store and digital is £72.48 (digital doesn't include 3 months NSO either).

That's an ugly box.

Still waiting for Side Order to be bundled with NSO + Expansion Pack. It would be the perfect thing, especially since Splatoon 2 DLC's NSO inclusion has lost a lot of value with Splatoon 3's existence.

So this is the game and DLC included on the cartridge? article makes it seem like it is but was thrown off whether the "downloadable content" on the box means that you have to download the content itself.

TBH im cool with the idea of physical re-releases of games with things like updates and/or DLC and makes me wish things like Kirby star allies or other games which got extra content via updates would get physical re-releases containing them in order to help "future-proof" them.

@Mgalens
"Bundled" as in separate. So sadly, it isn't on one cartridge.

@jojobar they won't. Nintendo is definitely carrying all Switch features to the next console, unlike with the Wii U.

@batmanbud2 I guarantee you they are going to shut down Splatoon 3 servers one day. Then Splatoon 3 is dead, I will never go back to play the singleplayer in Splatoon Games. They are not bad but also not good enough to stand out.

Loved Splatoon 1 on Wii U but couldn’t get into 2. Is 3 worth it?