From the moment that Splatoon 3 arrived, fans knew that there was a ticking clock on it. Despite being one of Nintendo’s best franchises since its birth on the Wii U, they’ve been hesitant to support it throughout the titles lifespans. By that, we mean that the content that the games would get would go strong for a period, and then straight-up stop. That appears to be the case once again with Splatoon 3. Yesterday, the company announced its “Summer Nights” event that would arrive soon and feature a new Splatfest. Today, however, they dropped a video of the new “Summer Catalog,” which features a phrase that many are stating proves the “end is near.”
You can see the interactive catalog video below. In it, you see the various items that you’ll receive if you do enough in the game. However, once you get to page 96, you’ll see the phrase “Thank You For Playing.” That kind of phrasing hasn’t been used in the game in the past and would seemingly indicate that Nintendo is starting to wrap things up:
That would also apply to what happened recently with the Splatfests. The most recent topic was about the “end of the world” and what players would do in it. The reason that’s significant is that after the Splatfest was done, Big Man noted that it “wasn’t actually the end of the world yet,” which once again made fans wonder if something was going to happen soon.
Going back to the “Summer Nights” event, this is a much different kind of event than Splatoon 3 has done in the past. Yes, there have been seasons for a while now, but this is a full-on party. Even all the hosts from the various bands are getting new attires to help match the aesthetic. If we were to read into this further, we could state that the party isn’t just for the summer but to send the game off in style.
The good news is that these seasons tend to last three months. Plus, past titles had about three months worth of content before wrapping things up with a final Splatfest. That would mean that the content would go into August, with that month being the final Splatfest topic. There was also a recent tease for a massive event coming to Big Run, so perhaps that’s another sign of the “end times.”
All will be revealed when Nintendo deems it necessary.