Splatoon 3: possible cheaters torment others with infinite special weapon shots

Numerous reports are being shared on Twitter by players who have seemingly come across cheaters in Splatoon 3. Specifically, there are players who are able to fire repeated shots from special weapons far more quickly than normal.

In Splatoon 3, inking turf fills up a special gauge that, when full, allows you to use a special weapon. On average, a player will likely be able to use their special weapon around five or six times, and even in a game mode with a longer duration, you could probably only use it ten times at most. However, on social media there is a report of a player who has used the weapons 87 times in a single match. Even someone who has never played Splatoon 3 would easily recognize that there’s something off here.

Most of the player reports detail apparent cheaters who are using the Tenta Missiles special weapon, which fires missiles that lock onto opponents. As the missiles rain down on an area surrounding the targeted player, there is no choice but to flee, and even if the missiles are successfully evaded, they will still ink the turf where they fall. The Tenta Missiles are regarded among the most powerful special weapons in Splatoon 3.

Twitter user @tekkin_Splatoon used the game’s replay function to confirm what was happening from the viewpoint of the cheating player. As this player fires the Tenta Missiles, their special gauge only decreases a small amount before immediately jumping back to full. Similar findings have also been posted by other players. Some have also witnessed a cheater using the Reefslider in a similarly infinite manner.

Cheaters were a regular sighting in Splatoon 2 as well. They could do all kinds of things in that game, like become invincible or invisible, rapid-fire their sub-weapons, fly endlessly with the jet pack, overwrite in-game values like money, and more.

One of the most noticeable cheat related events occurred in July 2018 when a player hacked the Splatoon 2 X Rank leaderboards and replaced the top four spots with players whose names were “Please,” “Add,” “Anti,” and “Cheat.” This player later claimed responsibility for the hack on Reddit and explained that they edited the X Power of their characters to manipulate the leaderboard and deliver a message to Nintendo. The intention behind the act was to get the developers to implement measures that address the prevalence of cheaters in the game.

With Splatoon 2, the developers handled issues with cheating as they arose. Players that cheat on Nintendo Switch games are often making use of CFW (custom firmware) and developers have taken measures at both the software and hardware level. The game of cat and mouse between cheaters and developers is an undeniable part of most online games, but hopefully the issues in Splatoon 3 can be addressed as quickly as possible.  

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-09-23 21:10 JST)