Splatoon 3’s World Premiere Splatfest servers ran at a 30-percent lower tick rate than the original Splatoon

A data miner has revealed somewhat disheartening information about the tick rate of the demo server used for Splatoon 3’s World Premiere Splatfest last Saturday, Aug. 27.

As reported by My Nintendo News, data miner OatmealDome posted a graph showing the tick rate of the World Premiere Splatfest servers versus Splatoon 2’s servers. Tick rate refers to the speed at which information is sent between a client, or each individual Splatoon player in this case, and Nintendo’s servers, which are hosting the game. Tick is measured in hertz, abbreviated as hz. Generally speaking, the higher the number, the more frequently information is updated between the client and the server, resulting in a smoother and more even network experience.

OatmealDome’s investigation revealed that the World Premiere Splatfest servers appear to have the same 16hz tick rate as Splatoon 2. This is approximately 30 percent lower than the original Splatoon‘s tick rate on the Wii U, which was roughly 25hz. For comparison, other FPS games often run at 30hz to 60hz, meaning that information between the client and server is updated much more frequently. Optimal performance occurs when the game’s refresh rate matches the tick rate; Splatoon 3‘s refresh rate is reportedly 60hz.

OatmealDome noted that this was only based on the server used for the World Premiere Splatfest and that additional testing will be needed on the final game once it’s released to determine its true tick rate. They also noted that a lower tick rate can have some advantages, particularly when it comes to reducing bandwidth and optimizing console-to-console information transfer.

Splatoon 3 releases on Sept. 9.