Splatoon 3 fans were treated to a bully astonishment this past play erstwhile Nintendo staged a peculiar Splatfest lawsuit earlier the game’s authoritative release. This gave folks a accidental to download and play a demo of the colorful shooter up of its September 9 merchandise date. However, players bold capable to “fuck astir and find out” surely recovered out, arsenic it appears that Nintendo’s anti-cheat strategy has present begun banning the Switch consoles of Splatfest players who tried to get up by modifying the game.

According to noted Nintendo Switch dataminer OatmealDome, the game’s anti-cheat strategy was so progressive implicit the weekend. The Splatoon 3: Splatfest World Premier, which ran from August 27-28, offered 3 teams to take from—Rock, Paper, oregon Scissors—as good arsenic an assortment of cogwheel and weapons to experimentation with. You’d deliberation this would beryllium capable to tide radical implicit portion we each collectively hold for the game’s authoritative motorboat successful a mates of weeks. But immoderate inactive stepped retired of bounds by downloading and utilizing a user-made patch that skipped the tutorial and granted aboriginal entree to Splatoon 3's investigating range, the game’s signifier lobby of sorts. The spot worked, but players who utilized it soon started uncovering their Switches getting banned.

It’s unclear if these bans represent a full prohibition from the Nintendo Switch Online service—OatmealDome present suggests that the prohibition whitethorn lone forestall affected players from playing much Splatoon 3 connected their console—but it surely doesn’t look similar thing you’d privation to test.

“When I saw reports connected Twitter astir radical getting banned due to the fact that of that 1 patch, I was wholly unsurprised,” OatmealDome told Kotaku implicit Twitter DMs. “Patching the game’s codification would [also] get you banned connected Splatoon 2.

“Nintendo is taking cheating earnestly this clip around,” they said. “[whereas] Splatoon and [Splatoon] 2 were some wholly unprotected erstwhile they launched.”

However, they enactment that “a clump of high-profile incidents” that affected Splatoon 2 caused Nintendo to get much serious. “This led to Splatoon 2 getting a beauteous decent anti-cheat solution implemented, and it seems to beryllium alternatively effectual frankincense far,” they said. “Nintendo wants to proceed that into Splatoon 3.”

Kotaku has reached retired to Nintendo for comment.

We’ve learned a batch astir Splatoon 3 acknowledgment to the 30-minute Direct Nintendo held connected August 10. Alongside the instrumentality of fan-favorite stages similar Hammerhead Bridge, the colorful shooter volition fto you tube rotation retired of the ink, inactive refuses due in-game dependable chat, and features a ton of caller guns I’m beauteous stoked for this game. Splatoon 3 hits Nintendo Switch exclusively connected September 9.