Highlights
- Splatoon 3's upcoming Side Order DLC was showcased in a gameplay trailer during the recent Nintendo Direct, providing a glimpse into the adventure players can expect.
- The Side Order expansion takes place in the Spire of Order, where players will encounter characters 2 like Acht from Splatoon and face various enemies and puzzles.
- Side Order is set to release in spring 2024 and can only be accessed by purchasing the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass, which also includes other bonuses like the Pescatariat Royales food items.
Splatoon 3 finally revealed some gameplay footage from its Side Order DLC, which opened the September 14 Nintendo Direct. This incoming addition to the game will arrive as the second wave of the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass.
The third installment in Nintendo's family-friendly shooter series has so far proven to be a huge hit, as underlined by the fact that Splatoon 3 hit ten million sales within three months of its September 2022 release. Its first piece of DLC, Inkopolis, debuted in late February, mere weeks after Nintendo confirmed the game's two-part Expansion Pass.
And while the February announcement already revealed that Splatoon 3's single-player DLC will be called Side Order, not much has been shared about the contents of the expansion itself. That finally changed with today's Nintendo Direct, which delivered the first gameplay trailer for Side Order. The two-minute video shows a few glimpses of Agent 8 and a robot version of Pearl exploring the Spire of Order, a giant tower that will serve as the setting of the upcoming DLC. The clip reveals that the duo will meet Acht from Splatoon 2 on their adventures, whereas Agent 8 will also take on a wide variety of enemies and even some puzzles throughout the Side Order campaign.
While Nintendo still isn't committing to a concrete release date, the expansion's first gameplay trailer did come with a confirmation that Side Order is planned to launch in spring 2024. That substantially narrowed down its release window, which had previously only been set for next year. Some recently shared teaser images also revealed that the upcoming DLC will feature Marina Ida, who makes up the Off the Hook pop idol duo from Splatoon 2 alongside Pearl. Today's trailer did not actually feature Marina, but it did tease her appearance with a scene in which Acht mentioned the musically inclined Octoling.
While many developers offer expansion passes as an alternative to buying individual pieces of DLC, Nintendo does not subscribe to such an approach. Side Order will hence only be available as part of the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass, priced at $24.99. Besides Inkopolis and the promise of Side Order, the bundle also includes some in-game bonuses like three Pescatariat Royales, food items that double the amount of battle XP earned by the player.
The new Splatoon 3 DLC trailer marked the start of yet another content-packed Nintendo Direct, with the 40-minute broadcast including over 30 announcements in total. Among other things, the livestream revealed new gameplay features of the Super Mario RPG remake and confirmed that the Switch port of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon will hit the market in summer 2024 as Luigi's Mansion 2 HD.
Splatoon 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch.
