Splatoon 3 DLC Will Feature "New and Different" Gameplay

Earlier this year, an Expansion Pass for Splatoon 3 was announced, with DLC being released in two waves. The first wave is currently available, and allows players to travel back to Inkopolis, the hub world from the original Splatoon game. The second half of the DLC was also teased at the time, and will go by the name "Side Order." Little information has been revealed about the second wave thus far, but Hisashi Nogami was recently interviewed by Famitsu (translated by Nintendo Everything), and the Splatoon 3 director had some interesting things to say about Side Order.

"We can't give away any details yet, but it's going to be a new story that Off the Hook will be part of," said Nogami. "We also plan on making the gameplay completely new and different, so please look forward to it."

For those unfamiliar with Off the Hook, it's the name used by the pop idols Pearl and Marina, who appeared in Splatoon 2. Like Deep Cut in Splatoon 3, Off the Hook served as the hosts for the game, and also represented each Splatfest team. The final Splatfest in Splatoon 2 tasked players with choosing between Chaos and Order, and Team Chaos got the win. That conclusion set up the storyline for Splatoon 3, but Side Order will feature a world where Team Order brought home the win. In that same Famitsu interview, co-director Seita Inoue revealed that wasn't always the plan.

"We didn't decide on this from the beginning, but when coming up with plans for the Expansion Pass, we thought it would be interesting to make a world where (Team) Order triumphed and so we acted on that," said Inoue.

As of this writing, there has been no release date announced for Side Order, so Nintendo Switch fans will just have to keep waiting patiently! Hopefully this "new and different" gameplay will offer something that truly is fresh and unique for the Splatoon series.

Are you a fan of Splatoon 3? Are you looking forward to the next wave of the Expansion Pass? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!