Splatoon 3

Like its predecessors in the Splatoon series, Splatoon 3 is a third-person shooter. Players choose to be either an Inkling or Octoling as their player character. Both wield weaponry that uses colored ink as ammunition. Weapons are diverse in ability and imagery, with most resembling household objects.

For example, Rollers are large paint rollers that can cover large amounts of area in ink but are generally limited to close-range combat, while Chargers are weapons which resemble a sniper rifle, and have long range for sniping opponents but are less effective at painting the ground. Splatoon 3 expands upon this by adding new main, sub, and special weapons to the game. Main weapons are chosen by the player, and include a sub weapon and a special weapon. Sub weapons act as secondary weapons, often for tactical purposes, that use up more ink.

The Splatoon games take place on a version of Earth set far in the future after the extinction of humanity and almost all mammal life, suggested to be due to climate change, where much of oceanic life has evolved to live on land. Splatoon 3 takes place five years after the events of Splatoon 2 in the Splatlands, a sun-scorched desert inhabited by battle-hardened Inklings and Octolings, and Splatsville, a city of chaos that developed rapidly since the last Splatfest in Splatoon 2, "Chaos vs. Order". The game's overall "chaotic" design was chosen in accordance with Team Chaos claiming victory in said Splatfest.

The story mode of Splatoon 3, titled Return of the Mammalians, is set in a new location called Alterna, a large, snowy area littered with incomplete structures and hazardous Fuzzy Ooze, an ink-like substance mostly covered in brown fur, with a rocket at its center. It focuses on the reappearance of mammals, which have been long-extinct.

Splatoon 3 was developed by Nintendo EPD, with additional work done by Monolith Soft, who also assisted in the development of previous Splatoon games, as well as SRD and Bandai Namco Studios Singapore & Malaysia. The game makes use of NLPN, Nintendo's in-house server system, which supports expanded lobby features and better matchmaking.

At E3 2019, after the announcement of Splatoon 2's final Splatfest, "Chaos vs. Order", Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami stated that a third entry in the series was not in development. In an "Ask the Developer" interview on Nintendo's website, it was revealed that the direction of Splatoon 3's world was decided after Team Chaos won Splatoon 2's final Splatfest, with the developers planning for both outcomes before the Splatfest winner was decided. In a Splatoon 3 Direct on 10 August 2022, Nintendo confirmed that the game would receive two years worth of updates releasing every three months using a seasonal approach, which would feature the addition of more stages and weapons, as well as large-scale paid downloadable content (DLC).

Splatoon 3 received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator website Metacritic.

The game's overall presentation was commended. Wired's Reid McCarter praised the game's original, cartoony characters, as opposed to contemporary shooters' focus on realistic graphics. Alex Olney of Nintendo Life called the world of Splatoon 3 "immersi[ve]", hailing Splatsville as the series' most expansive and atmospheric hub world to date. Its soundtrack was acclaimed by Ben Johnson of Pocket Tactics, who characterized its songs as experimental, bold, and distinct. Echoing this sentiment, IGN staff wrote positively of the soundtrack's fusion of distinct cultural styles, saying that it "could easily be considered its own genre."