Another Nintendo Exclusive Gets Switch 2 Version

We’re still in that weird console generation transitional period between the Nintendo Switch 2 and its predecessor. Only a few true Switch 2 exclusives have been released, including open-world racer Mario Kart World and terrain-smashing platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, and we’re still seeing a steady supply of enhanced ports from the original Switch’s catalog. A Switch 2 upgrade seems to have been prematurely revealed for Splatoon 3, but you would be correct in pointing out we’ve already been down this road.

A Nintendo Switch 2 version of Splatoon 3 was rated by PEGI (it was given PEGI 7, if you’re curious), as spotted by Gematsu. This wouldn’t be so confusing if it weren’t for the Splatoon 3 Switch 2 update that was already released on June 12, 2025. The matter is further complicated by PEGI’s listed release date for Switch 2: today, December 31, 2025. As far as we can tell, no new version of Splatoon 3 has been released nor announced.

Splatoon 3 Rated For Switch 2 After Already Receiving Update In 2025

Given the fact that PEGI is simply a rating board, Splatoon 3’s new Switch 2 release date comes with no other information. Splatoon 3’s Switch 2 upgrade was quietly announced via the Nintendo Today app earlier this year, when the app was still new and just two days before the update went live. Said announcement came alongside the reveal of Splatoon Raiders, a spin-off Switch 2 exclusive that has yet to receive a second trailer.

Splatoon 3 received the expected face lift from its Switch 2 update. On Nintendo’s latest hardware, Splatoon 3 now runs at 60 frames per second in and out of multiplayer matches and at higher resolutions in both docked and handheld modes. The only other obvious addition a separate Switch 2 edition could add is mouse controls, but games typically haven’t received both and upgrade and a new version.

Is A Splatoon 3 Re-Release Coming?

One explanation for the updated PEGI listing for Splatoon 3 is that it’s simply a mistake. December 31, 2025, could have been submitted as a placeholder date before June 12 was decided upon, and then never changed. But a separate release date being listed at all for a software update is still odd.

We won’t have confirmation of a Splatoon 3 re-release until word comes from Nintendo. If one is in the works, there are a couple of possibilities for what it might entail. The most basic is that Splatoon 3 will simply be released on Switch 2 cartridges. Another potential re-release strategy could see Splatoon 3’s Switch 2 version be, essentially, a definitive edition, coming bundled with the single-player DLC expansion, Side Order.

Any new plans for Splatoon 3 would most likely be revealed during a Nintendo Direct, one of which is regularly broadcast each February. That said, our last Splatoon 3 news came from the Nintendo Today app, and with this PEGI rating being so odd, there’s still a chance nothing new at all happens with the game. A Nintendo Switch 2 update was already released for Splatoon 3, and Nintendo so far hasn’t made a habit of doubling down on such upgrades.