Splatoon 2: Splatfest World Premiere announced during the Splatoon 2 Direct!

Breaking news! The Splatoon 2 Direct just announced the Splatoon 2: Splatfest World Premiere, a free demo event that will take place on July 15th between 17:00 BST and 21:00 BST, a whole week before launch! All you need to do is download the free demo* onto your Nintendo Switch via Nintendo eShop and you’re good to take part. The demo is set to become available to download in the morning of July 7th, for those of you eager to get preparations started as quickly as possible.

The free demo will allow you to take part in a Splatfest. What’s a Splatfest, you ask? They’re events that split players into two sides and have them battle one another in 4-on-4 matches for a limited time. Each Splatfest has a polarising theme and players must choose which side they prefer and defend it! They’re planned to run for two years after Splatoon 2 launches.

So what’s the theme for the Splatoon 2: Splatfest World Premiere? It’s Cake vs. Ice Cream! What will your dessert of choice be on July 15th?

But that’s not all we learned from the presentation. We discovered that on top of Turf War and Ranked Battle there are League Battles too, which allows you to form a team with friends, fight alongside them, and battle your way to the top of the league! You can either enlist one other friend to form a pair and be matched with another pair, or you can connect with three friends to form a team of four.

League Battles play out as Ranked Battles over a two-hour period, or until the maps change. Your score is based on your wins and losses during that period. If you play well, you can receive a shiny in-game medal to commemorate just how amazing you really are.

We also got to see more of Salmon Run, including more Boss Salmonids like the Steel Eel! The online version of Salmon Run can be played at designated times, but you can play with friends in local multiplayer at any time. Salmon Run is 2-4 players, while other private battles can be had with up to eight players, even locally! You can find out more about Salmon Run in our previous report.

During the presentation we got a glimpse of many new weapons, sub weapons and even special weapons. Like the Goo Tuber, Dapple Dualies and Baller! But we also discovered that new weapons are in development, like the Splat Brella, for example, which offers both beauty and functionality, just like a regular umbrella. Over time more maps and gear will also become available so we’ll certainly be kept busy here at the Squid Research Lab.

Oh, we almost forgot! We’ve managed to discover more information about SplatNet 2, the service that allows you to use voice chat with friends and puts information such as stage schedules, gear, and stats at your fingertips even when you're not near your Nintendo Switch.

So. Much. Info. And we haven’t even touched upon the Galleria, which houses a row of popular gear and weapon shops like Headspace, Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe, Shella Fresh and Ammo Knights! Not to mention, there’s also some fresh new footage of Ranked Battle and Hero Mode. Be sure to check out the full presentation to see more!

Last but not least, we also got introduced to Pearl and Marina. Our description of them would never be able to do them justice so check out the video below for yourselves.

Splatoon 2 arrives exclusively on Nintendo Switch on July 21st. Find out more about it at the official Splatoon 2 website and make sure you head on over to the Splatoon Facebook page where we’ll be publishing further updates.

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