Splatoon 3 to let players reset their rank and wipe away their debts

Nintendo has revealed the patch notes for Splatoon 3’s upcoming Ver. 2.0.0 which is scheduled to release on November 29. This update will add the ability for players to purposely reset their rank.
[Update 2022/11/30 17:03 JST] Fixed the release date of the Ver. 2.0.0.

The patch notes state this new feature can only be used once per season by players who are rank B or higher. As for what your rank will reset to, it’s explained that it will be determined automatically based on your abilities in battles up to that point.

At a glance, it might not be immediately clear why someone would use this feature. However, it might make more sense if thought of as applying for bankruptcy. That’s because in Splatoon 3, some players have found themselves stuck as “rank debtors.”

Unlike previous titles, a player’s rank in the game’s Anarchy Battle won’t drop. For example, if you manage to reach S rank, your rank won’t fall back down to A. So what happens if you keep losing? You get stuck with “debt.”

To enter Anarchy Battles, players have to spend what are called Rank Points. After a set number of matches, players then receive Rank Points based on the results. If the amount of Rank Points you spend is more than what you receive, your total goes into the negatives. If you want to advance to the next rank, you first have to “pay back” the points you owe. This can only be done by steadily earning points to climb out of the negatives. That’s why players who are down on Rank Points are referred to as being in debt.

As mentioned above, there’s no ranking down in Splatoon 3, so it’s easier than past titles to reach S rank if you play long enough. This has led to players who were in lower ranks in previous titles making their way to S rank in Splatoon 3. However, the S ranks are also where the game’s stronger players reside, so if you reach S rank and start losing games, your rank won’t drop, but your Rank Points will go into the negatives. Some players are even more than 1,000 Rank Points in debt.

*This player was later able to climb out of debt.

With this new rank resetting feature, players will be able to wipe their debts clean. However, it will also cause your rank to change based on your abilities which may result in your rank dropping to a lower level. Additionally, it can only be done once per season. While there are restrictions and risks, it should result in less players being trapped in Splatoon 3 debtors’ prison.

As an aside, if you think Ver. 2.0.0 is easing the game’s debt system, the opposite may be true. For players rank A- and above, the number of Rank Points required to enter Anarchy Battles is being increased. While they’ve put some bailout measures in place, when you consider that X Battles are also being implemented, matches are likely only going to get even more hardcore.

The patch notes for Ver. 2.0.0 can be found here.

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-11-29 13:20 JST)