After sharing new celebratory artwork from the Splatoon 2 team, the official Nintendo of America Twitter account quickly followed up with the revelation of a surprise 48-hour Splatfest. Starting at 3PM PT on August 21, Inklings and Octolings will have the chance to revisit the Chicken vs. Egg debate once featured as a Splatfest theme.
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This exciting announcement was then followed up with yet another tweet, telling players to look forward to another two Splatfests before March 2021.
Splatfests were initially introduced as a monthly 24-hour event hosted by the original Splatoon’s Callie and Marie. The format and structure of the event stayed largely the same in Splatoon 2, save for the occasional 48-hour fest, and the introduction of Marina and Pearl as hosts.
Traditionally speaking, Splatoon players side with one of two teams by using an in-game “Pledge Box” during the days leading up to a Splatfest. Once the Inkling or Octoling selects a team, the game lends them a Splatfest Tee, which can be worn throughout the event for additional perks. As another extra treat, nearly every Splatfest also introduced players to a new variant of the elusive “Shifty Station” stage.
The actual Splatfest itself consists of Turf War battles between the opposing teams (so this time around, it’ll be Team Chicken players competing against Team Egg players), which let the players accumulate points towards the final three scoring categories: Popularity, Normal (total unranked wins), and Pro (total ranked wins). The day after a Splatfest concludes, Marina and Pearl announce the winning team (whichever wins at least 2 of the 3 categories) and players are awarded a stash of precious Super Sea Snails. Players unfortunately have to return their Splatfest Tee once the event is over, but as of Version 5.0.0 of the game, they can at least sport a Splatfest Tee Replica to take advantage of the same impressive Ability Doubler power-up.
Fans of the splashy squid battler have long dreaded the extinction of Splatfests, especially since they stopped being a regular feature of Splatoon. That said, the developers have made a concerted effort to keep the game as fresh as they’re able to, with the addition of new gear, and with throwback Splatfests, like this one. Some keen players are specifically hoping this addition of three surprise Splatfests is also a cryptic nod to an imminent unveiling of Splatoon 3.
Although the next two Splatfest themes remain unannounced, players can look forward to reaffirming their stance on the classic Chicken-Egg question in this August’s Splatfest. And if they’re feeling extra celebratory, Inklings and Octolings may just want to check out the new free-to-play Splatoon-inspired Ninjala, which recently broke 3 million downloads.
Splatoon 2 is available now on Switch.
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Source: Nintendo of America
