Nintendo has shared details about the next version update coming to Splatoon 3.

The update release on February 21st 2024, and will bring the game up to Version 7.0.0. It will add support for the Side Order DLC, as well as a number of additional fixes and balance adjustments.

You can check out the full patchnotes below:

Latest update: Ver. 7.0.0 (Releasing February 21, 2024)

Changes to DLC

• Added support for Side Order DLC.
  • Players who have purchased the Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass – Inkopolis & Side Order DLC can start the Side Order story by heading to Inkopolis Square from the train station in the square.

Season and Catalog Changes

• On March 1, 2024, data relating to Fresh Season 2024 is added to the game. This includes:
  • A new catalog, including new gear, titles, banners, decorations, stickers, and emotes.
  • 153 pieces of gear added to store product lineups.
  • 1 new battle stage: Marlin Airport.
  • 2 new main weapons.
  • 9 new sets of existing main weapons paired with different sub and special weapons.
  • A new Salmon Run stage: Bonerattle Arena.
  • 20 new Tableturf Battle cards.

Changes to Gear

• Added new ways to Adjust Gear.
  • This applies to certain glasses, visors, hoodies, sweaters, layered T-shirts, and shoes with socks.
  • Select any supported gear from the Equip screen and press the Y Button to adjust it.
• Made it possible to Adjust Gear for certain caps as well as T-shirts that previously did not Adjust Gear, such as Splatfest Tees.

Changes to Multiplayer

• Added 2 songs that will play during battles.
  • These songs will play starting from the beginning of Fresh Season 2024.
• New main weapons have been added.
  • These weapons will be available in the shops at the start of Fresh Season 2024.

  Weapon	Details
  Douser Dualies FF	Normal shots from these dualies have a long flight range. The Dodge Roll moves a long distance, but in exchange it can only be performed once at a time. When shooting after a Dodge Roll, the flight range of shots decreases, but the rate of fire increases dramatically.
  Recycled Brella 24 Mk I	This brella can deal high amounts of damage to even distant opponents due to the low scatter of its shots. The canopy has a low durability, but it can launch quickly and has a short recovery time.

• New and returning weapons have been added.
  • These weapons will be available in the shops at the start of Fresh Season 2024.

  Weapon	Sub Weapon	Special Weapon
  .52 Gal Deco	Curling Bomb	Splattercolor Screen
  Foil Flingza Roller	Suction Bomb	Splattercolor Screen
  New Squiffer	Autobomb	Zipcaster
  Custom E-liter 4K	Squid Beakon	Kraken Royale
  Custom E-liter 4K Scope	Squid Beakon	Kraken Royale
  Custom Explosher	Splash Wall	Triple Splashdown
  Dread Wringer D	Squid Beakon	Wave Breaker
  Nautilus 79	Suction Bomb	Triple Splashdown
  Glooga Dualies Deco	Point Sensor	Trizooka
  Douser Dualies FF	Ink Mine	Killer Wail 5.1
  Recycled Brella 24 Mk I	Angle Shooter	Big Bubbler

• Specifications for some main weapons have changed.
  

  Weapon	Change Details
  Big Swig Roller Big Swig Roller Express	Reduced the amount of ink consumed for horizontal swings and vertical swings by approximately 10%.
  Mini Splatling Zink Mini Splatling	Ink splatter is now more likely to fall around the player’s feet.
  Glooga Dualies Glooga Dualies Deco	Increased the radius of the ink splatter at the point of impact by approximately 10%.
  REEF-LUX 450 REEF-LUX 450 Deco	Increased the amount of ink consumed for up to the first charge level by approximately 17%.

• Points required for some special weapons have been changed.
  

  Weapon	Before	After
  .52 Gal	190	200
  Enperry Splat Dualies	190	200

• Added dedicated poses to the Reppin’ Inkopolis emote for when the player is equipping dualies, brellas, stringers, or splatanas.

Changes to Splatfests

• Players can now use new Fizzbangs in Splatfest Battles and Tricolor Battles.
  • Press the A Button (or the L Button) to throw a Fizzbang. It will launch a firework where it lands to ink the ground and deal a small amount of damage to enemies.
  • Fizzbangs are acquired when landing on the stage from the spawner and when a player defeats an opponent. The number of Fizzbangs acquired at these times increases as the time remaining in the battle gets lower.
  • You can have up to seven Fizzbangs.
• The points earned by each division during the final results have been adjusted, and the second-place team in each division will also now earn points.
  

  Division	Before	After
  	1st place	1st place	2nd place
  Sneak Peek	+7p	+90p	+45p
  Votes	+8p	+70p	+35p
  Splatfest Battle (Open)	+12p	+120p	+60p
  Splatfest Battle (Pro)	+12p	+120p	+60p
  Tricolor Battle	+18p	+180p	+90p

• The matchmaking method for Splatfest Battle (Open) has been adjusted to improve matchmaking efficiency for groups of two players.

Changes to Salmon Run

• Added items that can be exchanged for fish scales.
• Specifications for some special weapons have changed.
  

  Special Weapon	Change Details
  Loaned Reefslider	Increased the damage dealt by the charge attack from 400.0 to 500.0. Increased the effective radius of the area of the charge attack by approximately 50%.

• Lowered the frequency of animation updates for distant Salmonids when there is a large total number of Salmonids on the stage in order to reduce the frequency of game slowdown.

Changes to Tableturf Battle

• Added more characters who can be invited to Tableturf Battle Dojo.
  • To invite new characters, players must download the Side Order DLC and progress the story.
• Added seven stages that can be selected for battles against other players.
• Added a Random feature which will move the cursor to a random stage when selecting a stage for battles against other players.
  • You can use it by pressing the Y Button on the stage selection screen.
• Changed the stage used by Spyke in Tableturf Battle Dojo.
• Increased the number of decks players can save from 16 to 32.

Changes to SplatNet 3

• Added a Side Order Stats feature.
• Added Journey 5 to Wandercrust.
  • Players will be able to support Journey 5 after completing Journeys 1 through 4.
  • Journey 5 can only be supported with points earned by inking turf from Fresh Season 2024 onward.

Changes to Tournament Manager

• From Fresh Season 2024 onward, players will be able to get a food ticket when participating in tournaments held with Tournament Manager.
  • Players can receive their ticket from the lobby terminal after participating in a tournament.
  • Players who withdraw from the tournament or are disqualified will not be able to receive the ticket.
  • Players may receive one ticket per season.
• Added badges that directors and codirectors who complete tournaments using Tournament Manager will be able to receive based on the total number of tournament participants.
  • Participation in tournaments completed before applying this update data will also be counted.
• Added a Prevent Stage Reuse option to Battle Settings.
  • When this option is enabled, randomly chosen stages will automatically be removed from the pool of random stages after finishing a battle on that stage.
  • Stages will not be removed if the battle is interrupted.

This update focuses on support for the Side Order DLC as well as feature additions, Splatfest changes, and tweaks to multiplayer for Fresh Season 2024, which releases in March.

For multiplayer, we’ve added new main weapons and adjusted some main weapons to make them easier to handle for players who use them frequently.

Our next update is planned for the middle of Fresh Season 2024 and should focus on balance adjustments.

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