As Splatoon 2’s final Splatfest begins—with the theme Chaos vs. Order—fans of the colorful third-person shooter may be expecting a Splatoon 3 announcement to come soon. In the original Splatoon, the results of the final Splatfest set up the plot for Splatoon 2, which was announced shortly after Splatfests and other online updates ended for the first game. However, a recent Famitsu interview with Splatoon and Splatoon 2 producer, Hisashi Nogami, translated by website Japanese Nintendo, has revealed that Splatoon 3 isn’t coming quite yet.
No work on a third installment to the franchise has been completed yet, according to Nogami. He revealed that production on Splatoon 2 started as soon as the first game was released. When Splatoon 2 released back in July 2017, Nogami’s team didn’t immediately begin work on a third installment, as they had much more to do for Splatoon 2, such as the game’s Octo Expansion and other updates, which he said his team continues to be “fully focused on”. Because of that, they “still haven’t thought of the future” and are waiting until “after everything is over” before moving to that point.
“Everything” could refer to a couple of things. In addition to working on Splatoon 2 updates and expansion packs, Nogami’s team have likely focused their resources on the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which has been delayed to 2020 since its initial announcement back in 2018. Splatoon 2’s final content update is launching later this month after the final Splatfest, which should allow Nogami’s team more time to focus on Animal Crossing: New Horizons and eventually consider a third Splatoon game.
Though the future of the Splatoon franchise is currently unclear, Nogami doesn’t seem opposed to continue working on it. “We’re not yet at a phase where we can make a promise,” he said, “but we’d like to return the favor in some sort of way to many people who have supported us.”
Splatoon 2’s final Splatfest began earlier today and will end at 5 AM PT on July 21, which marks two years since the game’s launch.