Today we have some very strange news to share with you about SplatNet 2, a service included in the Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app that is connected with Splatoon 2.

In Splatoon 2’s latest version 5.1.0 update, dataminers have found a string called “CommonMsg_JPja.release/CuiMsgWin.msbt
追加テキスト(Msg_EndCalico)”.

The string contains the following message (translated by NintendoSoup):

“The Internet service ‘SplatNet 2’ has ended.”

The existence of this very string has led many Splatoon fans to speculate that Splatoon 3 is coming soon. As SplatNet 2 is a crucial online service for Splatoon 2, it wouldn’t make sense to add a “service ended” message to the game this early if it had a long life ahead. But of course, Nintendo could simply be adding this string ahead of time, so we will have to wait and see what happens.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

UPDATE – This is a video showing how the message will pop up in the game

実際にサービスが終わるとこうなる pic.twitter.com/vJx0vYwZL3

— 紅しょうが (@asasasa98765) January 6, 2020