Splatoon 3 could get lots of updates and events after launch, and if so, Nintendo needs to learn from its work on Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Nintendo may not have announced a release date for Splatoon 3, but thanks to a confirmed summer 2022 window, fans at least know the wait will be over soon. Splatoon 3 clearly has strong roots in Splatoon 2, since it borrows and expands on major content like Salmon Run, but it still promises to supply a lot of original content including creative new weapons and a story mode with a mammal-centric twist. Odds are also good that Splatoon 3 will get many new features after launch considering Nintendo’s history of supporting Splatoon games with in-game events and DLC.
It could take some time before Nintendo reveals Splatoon 3‘s long-term additional content, but whatever form it takes, hopefully, it’s robust. Splatoon 3 looks like a step forward for the franchise, and it deserves multiple years of strong events and expansions from Nintendo rather than a brief period of support. That’s a lesson worth learning from Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ surprisingly short run. Rather than stopping work on Splatoon 3 within two years of its release, Nintendo ought to devote resources toward expanding and improving Splatoon 3 for many years.
Lessons From Animal Crossing: New Horizons
As of this writing, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the second best-selling game on the Switch, and it’ll likely hold onto that throne for some time. That’s why it’s strange to think Nintendo supported the game for such a relatively short time. All told, New Horizons only got about a year-and-a-half of additional content before the 2.0 Update arrived as its last major expansion. That’s a stark contrast to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s many years of DLC fighters and even Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, which released in 2017 and still gets new content. Splatoon 3 support needs to last a long time, rather than fizzling out after less than two years.
The pacing of New Horizons expansions could teach Splatoon 3 a valuable lesson too. Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ 2.0 Update provided tons of valuable, compelling content, but its sheer scale made it incomparable to previous updates. As a result, some players felt intimidated by the update’s scale, which made actually getting back into New Horizons and enjoying the 2.0 Update harder. Splatoon 3 deserves flashy, large-scale updates in its lifetime, but ideally, they’ll be more equivalent to one another and paced in a way that ensures fans don’t get overwhelmed.
Splatoon 3’s Content Potential
When it comes to expanding Splatoon 3 after its release, Nintendo certainly isn’t short on options. Splatoon fans will always appreciate more weapons to wield in the game’s frantic multiplayer battles, so Splatoon 3 could add them on the regular to constantly renew interest in combat. Aside from the returning Salmon Run, Splatoon 3 could add all kinds of new PvP and PvE modes as well, of Nintendo may consider adding additional campaigns akin to Splatoon 2‘s Octo Expansion. Much like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Splatoon 3 will undoubtedly have room to grow, even if it’s an excellent game at launch.
With all those content options in mind, it’s clear that distribution will be the biggest hurdle for Splatoon 3‘s ongoing content. Whatever types of new features and events Nintendo decides to add in the long term, the updates shouldn’t outclass one another in terms of scale. More importantly, additional content ought to keep coming for a long time. Animal Crossing: New Horizons had some excellent expansions after release, but there’s still room for improvement when it comes to distributing those expansions. As a young IP, Splatoon deserves the best post-launch content lineup that Nintendo can muster.
Splatoon 3 launches in summer 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
