Why Was Splatoon 3 an E3 No Show?


E3 2021 has wrapped up, and Nintendo's presentation definitely stole the show with announcements about Super Monkey Ball, Metroid Dread, a new Warioware, and even a new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2.

There was one game, however, that did not even get a quick mention.

That game was Splatoon 3.

Why Was Splatoon 3 Left Out of E3

Announced in February of 2021, Splatoon 3 had series fans foaming at the mouths with an amazing three-minute trailer featuring a new location, new weapons, and more.

Fans were excited to find out Splatoon 3 was doing away with player gender, allowing them to customize their Inkling (and possibly Octoling) characters how they wish without applying specific gender labels on them.

With so much hype about Splatoon 3, it would have been a slam dunk to show something off at E3, right?

Nope.

Splatoon 3 is still very early in development, with an unspecified 2022 release date.

In fact, Nintendo is still hiring folks to help work on the game by renovating existing levels for use in the new title.

The E3 Nintendo Direct was almost entirely focused on 2021 game releases, with one of the only 2022 releases mentioned being Breath of the Wild 2, a game that is further along in its development cycle than Splatoon 3.

Everything else Nintendo showed at E3 had a concrete release date.

Does Nintendo have anything new to show us for Splatoon 3?

Probably, but E3 2021 was not the place to do that.

Expect a Nintendo Direct dealing with Splatoon sometime before the end of the year.

Until then, enjoy all the other excellent news that came from Nintendo's E3 presentation.

READ MORE: Splatoon 2 and Smash Bros. Coming to US High Schools

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