The latest update for Splatoon 3 is slated to arrive today, October 25, 2022 in North America, and it comes with many many bug fixes. Most notably, however, it also makes serious changes to online.

The big news that comes with update Ver. 1.2.0 are the changes they have made to improve data transfer. Nintendo claims data will be transferred .05 seconds more quickly than before. This means players can expect certain reactions in the game to happen even faster. For example, you can get splatted out of the map after you lose all your health more quickly, you will pick up a Golden Egg after your button press for it faster, etc.

Nintendo revealed that Splatoon players need to update to version 1.2.0 if they want to use Splatoon 3’s online features. Unfortunately, once again your Battle Replays are not compatible with version 1.2.0 and they will have to be deleted in the update.

Most importantly, Nintendo clarified that these changes “cannot fully compensate for a slow or unreliable internet connection.”

The patch also has other online related updates. We’ll bullet list these below:

• Made it so that when players from each team appear during Open and Pro Splatfest Battles, each team’s affiliation is also displayed, making it easy to know which Splatfest team they’re on.
• Improved the efficiency of matchmaking for Anarchy Battles (Open), Anarchy Battles (Series), Splatfest Battles (Open), and Tricolor Attack. These changes mean that a pair of players joining an Anarchy Battle (Open) or Splatfest Battle (Open) can expect shorter wait times.
• In addition, we’ve reduced the amount of time matchmaking takes for certain modes, reduced battle latency, and made small convenience improvements to the lobby and more

Splatoon 3 is already minted as one of Nintendo’s greatest hits of 2022. Unfortunately, online play has been a continuing issue. While a September update was already released to address disconnections, this update improves ping and latency for online play.

On top of that, the update also finally adds support for the Yellow Inking, Blue Octoling, and Smallfry amiibo. These amiibo won’t be available until November 11, 2022. So, if you’re planning to pick these up, you can look forward to enjoying their bonuses the moment you get them.

Give the lengthy size of the patch notes, it may not surprise you to learn that this is the first balance patch for the game. We won’t detail all these changes, but it’s certainly worth pointing out that this is a healthy sign that Splatoon 3’s community is already providing feedback, directly and in how Nintendo observes them playing the game.

Splatoon fans can definitely expect a good two years of fun nonviolent shooting in Splatoon 3’s future.

Source: Perfectly Nintendo