Splatoon 3 has just received its big 3.0.0 update to coincide with the release of the first of its two waves of DLC as well as the Fresh Season 2023 starting this week.
Inkopolis, the first wave of the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass, sees players return to the titular locale and reunite with fresh faces, with all of the same gameplay and shopping opportunities as Splatsville – plus, the Squid Sisters make a return!
You can grab the expansion here.
Splatoon ver 3.0.0 is a mammoth update with a ton of changes, additions and fixes deserving of the bump up to a new whole number. Nintendo published the full patch notes, which you can see here, but we’ve copied across the important stuff below:
Splatoon 3 ver. 3.0.0
Changes to DLC
Added support for Inkopolis DLC.
Players who have purchased the Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass – Inkopolis & Side Order DLC can now travel between Inkopolis and Splatsville using the train station in the square.
Inkopolis has the same shops and features as Splatsville.
The shops in Inkopolis also have the same lineup of products as Splatsville. If you buy something in one location, it will be sold out for the day in both locations.
Season and Catalog Changes
On March 1, 2023, data relating to Fresh Season 2023 will be added to the game. This includes:
- A new catalog, including new gear, titles, Splashtags, decorations, stickers, and emotes.
- A new gear brand, Z+F.
- About 126 new items added to store product lineups.
- 2 new battle stages: Um’ami Ruins and Manta Maria.
- 2 new special weapons: Kraken Royale and Super Chump.
- 12 new sets of existing main weapons paired with different sub and special weapons.
- 23 new Tableturf Battle cards.
- Prizes that can be obtained by trading fish scales at Grizzco.
You can earn more Catalog Points than usual during the week before the end of the season thanks to a special Closeout Bonus.
Changes to the Notififcations Feature
Added the Pool feature.
- The Pool feature allows players to send and receive notifications with other players in the same Pool.
- Players can enter a phrase to join a Pool by opening the Lobby menu, selecting the Notifications tab, and pressing the + Button.
- For example, if you enter “Turf War Fans,” you’ll be able to send and receive notifications with players who have also entered “Turf War Fans,” and you will be able to join or drop in on each other’s games using notifications.
- While there isn’t a limit on how many people can join the same Pool, there may be cases in which notifications won’t be sent to all members if a large number of players are connected to the same Pool simultaneously.
When you receive an invitation to play or a “Fresh!” notification, it will be displayed on the screen.
Changes to Multiplayer
- New special weapons have been added. Weapon sets with these specials will be available in the shops at the start of Fresh Season 2023.
- New weapons have been added. These weapons will be available in the shops at the start of Fresh Season 2023.
- Specifications for some main weapons have changed.
- Specifications for some sub weapons have changed.
- Specifications for some special weapons have changed.
- Points required to use some weapon specials have been changed.
- Changed the terrain in some stages for some modes and reduced the impact of weapons shooting from far away.
- The sound effect when activating Ultra Stamp is now less audible to teammates.
- The sound effect when activating Inkjet is now less audible to teammates.
- The sound effect when activating Crab Tank is now less audible to teammates.
Changes to Salmon Run
- A new King Salmonid called Horrorboros may appear.
- Whether a Cohozuna or a Horrorboros appears will depend on the schedule at the time.
- Data relating to the upcoming Big Run event has been added.
- Data relating to the limited-time Eggstra Work event has been added.
- In Eggstra Work, players can assemble a group of two to four friends or members from the same Pool and then compete against other teams—all using the same job scenario—to collect as many Golden Eggs as possible during five waves.
- Both the initial hazard level and the job scenario for Eggstra Work are fixed, which means that every team will face off against the same Salmonids under the same conditions every time. However, if your team manages to exceed the Golden Eggs quota by enough, your hazard level will go up, making it possible to get a higher score.
- You will now be able to preview items when exchanging fish scales, similar to how you can preview items at Hotlantis, etc.
Changes to Connectivity
- Made it so that players will be notified when their connection is unstable. If the connection continues to be unstable, player controls will temporarily be disabled.
Changes to Splatfests
- Changed the amount of XP required to level up a Splatfest Tee. Splatfest Tees with more gear abilities will no longer require more XP to level up than those with fewer gear abilities.
- Winners of 10x Battles, etc., will be announced during the Anarchy Splatcast. This announcement will display automatically when in the lobby. It is not related to the timing of stage changes that happen every two hours.
- Slightly adjusted ink colors during Tricolor Turf War battles when Color Lock is turned ON.
- When you win a 10x Battle, a notification will be sent to your friends and members from the same Pool.
Changes to Lockers
Added a feature to store all items placed in your locker at once.
- Press the – (Minus) Button while editing your locker to use this feature.
Changes to Tableturf Battle
It is now possible to play Tableturf Battle against friends and players in the same Pool.
- You can create a room for Tableturf Battle in the lobby.
- Up to 10 players can join a room for Tableturf Battle.
- If two players in the same room take a seat at the Tableturf Battle tables on the second floor of the lobby, a game between the two will commence.
- You can watch a game between two players by approaching them and pressing the A Button.
- You can also play with nearby friends via the same process at the Shoal. Up to eight players can join a room for Tableturf Battle at the Shoal.
Increased the responsiveness to quick inputs made on the Edit Deck screen.
Changes to the Lobby
Added a jukebox to the lobby.
- You can use 100 cash to temporarily change the music playing in the lobby to a song of your choosing.
- You’ll gain more songs to choose from as you progress in the game.
- When using the jukebox in a Private Battle room, the music you choose will also play in the lobbies of other players in that room.
Other Changes
- Increased the number of badges that can be obtained based on player level.
- Increased the number of items on display in the gear shop at once to nine.
- Any titles, banners, decorations, badges, or emotes from previous catalogues that haven’t been obtained will now be available in the Shell-Out Machine.
- Increased the image quality on some screens in Photo Mode.
- Increased the amount of time before screen burn-in reduction activates in certain modes, such as while playing Story Mode or viewing replays.
- To improve the matchmaking efficiency in Open Anarchy Battles, teams will be disbanded and new players will be added if only a few current players select Keep Going. As before, when playing in a group with friends, the team will stay together regardless of the number of players remaining.
The patch notes also include a plethora of bug and online multiplayer fixes. Read about those here.
Splatoon 3 is out now. Amazon has the game at a discounted price of $68 with free shipping.
