Splatoon 3 sales are breaking records for Nintendo. According to the company, packaged and digital sales of the newly released Squid Kid shooter have surpassed 3.45 million units in just three days.
Nintendo says that that number breaks first-three-day sales records in Japan for any Nintendo Switch game in the history of the platform. Game Data Library, a site that compiles Japanese sales data, suggests that Splatoon 3‘s sales numbers could make that the biggest Japanese game launch ever, irrespective of platform. For the record, the biggest Switch launch ever in Japan before Splatoon 3 was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, with 3.3 million units sold in the first week.
Splatoon 2 was a particularly large hit in Japan and was the 5th best-selling Switch game in Japan even as late as March this year. With Splatoon 3 being largely similar, it’s a safe bet that it would snag that audience. Splatoon 3 does pack some changes, though. In addition to two new weapon types and a number of new special weapons, it moves the locale from Inkopolis to Splatsville.
Splatcast hosts Off The Hook were replaced by the Deep Cut trio. Splatfests themselves also became three-way affairs, adding a chaotic three-team battle mode to the community-based competition. Fans got a taste of that chaos in the inaugural Splatfest World Premiere demo, which opened before launch. The community was split between teams representing Rock, Paper, and Scissors. Team Rock, fronted by Deep Cut member Shiver, won the day.
The Splatfest World Premiere results are in and #TeamRock has crushed it! Congrats to the winners!
A big thanks to everyone for participating, and we’ll see you in Splatsville when #Splatoon3 launches on 9/9! pic.twitter.com/NorOFbhYDk
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 28, 2022
Splatoon 3 is available on Nintendo Switch. Nintendo promises new weapons and stages through updates for at least two years after launch.
