Dark Horse is bringing The Art of Splatoon 3 to English readers as a 400-page hardcover in December 2026. Here is what the art book includes, what it costs, and what fans should verify before preordering.
Image: nintendoeverything.com
Dark Horse sets a December date for Splatoon 3’s long-awaited art book
The Art of Splatoon 3 is getting an English hardcover release on December 1, 2026, giving Splatoon fans a North American edition more than three years after the art book first appeared in Japan. Dark Horse’s announcement, as carried by Nintendo Everything and quoted in full on Famiboards from Dark Horse’s own news post, prices the 400-page hardcover at $59.99 and says it will arrive in bookstores and comic shops.
That date is the concrete news. The tension is in the wait. Nintendo Life notes that the book originally released in Japan in 2023, only months after Splatoon 3 arrived on Switch, while Inkipedia lists the Japanese edition as a March 31, 2023 release from KADOKAWA Game Linkage. For English-speaking fans who have been importing, waiting, or watching previous Dark Horse Nintendo art books become collector shelf staples, this is the localization gap finally closing.
The publisher naming is worth being precise about. Nintendo Everything says Dark Horse Books is teaming with Nintendo on the release, while Nintendo Life, My Nintendo News, and Inkipedia identify the English publisher as Dark Horse Comics. The quoted announcement language on Famiboards uses “Dark Horse Books present,” which points to Dark Horse’s book imprint handling the edition under the wider Dark Horse Comics banner. The practical takeaway is simple: this is the official English The Art of Splatoon 3 release associated with Dark Horse, Nintendo, and the game’s Squid Research Lab commentary.
What the 400-page Splatoon 3 art book includes
Dark Horse’s description frames The Art of Splatoon 3 as a full visual archive for the Switch game rather than a slim gallery book. The announcement says it includes 400 pages of returning and debut characters, gear, weapons, maps, modes, storyboards, comics, and other artwork from the game. Nintendo Everything adds that developer notes are included, while Dark Horse’s own quoted copy says the book features commentary from the Squid Research Lab.
That matters for Splatoon because the series’ style is unusually dense. A weapon kit in Splatoon is readable at match speed, but it also has toy-like industrial design, brand language, stickers, fictional fashion cues, and animation logic folded into it. Maps and modes carry the same layered craft, where competitive clarity has to coexist with a world that looks loud, lived-in, and proudly weird. A proper Splatoon 3 art book has to account for characters and idols, yes, but also for the visual grammar of gear, arenas, signage, weapons, comics, and the small jokes buried in background art.
The confirmed page count also puts this release in the heavier end of game art-book territory. Inkipedia lists the English edition as full color, hardcover, 8 1/2 by 12 inches, and 400 pages, with ISBN 978-1-5067-5487-1. It also lists the Japanese edition at 400 pages in B5 format. Dark Horse’s announcement separately describes the English hardcover as 8.5 by 12 inches, which matches the Inkipedia listing. For readers buying it as an object as much as a reference, this is a large-format shelf book rather than a compact paperback companion.
The release follows Dark Horse’s earlier Splatoon art-book pattern
The English Splatoon 3 hardcover lands in a lineage Dark Horse has already helped establish. Inkipedia’s page for The Art of Splatoon lists the first English Splatoon art book as a Dark Horse Comics release from July 11, 2017, sold for $39.99, with a full-color 8 1/2 by 12 inch hardcover format and 328 pages. My Nintendo News also links back to its 2017 coverage of that original Dark Horse release.
That history makes the new book feel less like an experiment and more like a continuation of an established publishing route for Nintendo art material. The first Splatoon art book, according to Inkipedia, later received licensed translations in Simplified Chinese, European French, European Spanish, and German, with several of those versions based on the English edition. The sources provided do not announce similar translations for The Art of Splatoon 3, so English is the only newly confirmed localized edition here.
The price increase from the earlier $39.99 book to the Splatoon 3 hardcover’s $59.99 is also understandable in context, though Dark Horse has not given a pricing rationale in the provided material. The confirmed differences are page count and timing: Inkipedia lists the first English book at 328 pages, while The Art of Splatoon 3 is listed at 400 pages. It is also arriving in a different print market nearly a decade later. Anything beyond that, including print costs or licensing strategy, would be interpretation rather than a stated publisher explanation.
Preorders are starting, but retailer details are not perfectly aligned
Dark Horse’s announcement says The Art of Splatoon 3 will arrive in bookstores and comic shops on December 1, 2026. The Famiboards excerpt of Dark Horse’s announcement links to Dark Horse Direct for preorders. My Nintendo News reports that fans can get a copy on December 1 from “Amazon and the likes,” while Nintendo Everything says Amazon US and Amazon Canada reservations would be opening shortly. Nintendo Life characterizes preorders as live as of this week.
Those reports all point in the same general direction, but they do not describe every retailer with the same timing. If you are planning to preorder the Splatoon 3 hardcover, the safest move is to check the specific seller you want rather than assuming every store will go live at once. Comic shops may also handle it through their usual book distribution channels, since Dark Horse specifically names comic shops in the release plan.
There is one specification wrinkle worth flagging for collectors. Dark Horse’s announcement and Inkipedia list the book format as 8.5 by 12 inches. Nintendo Life, citing the Dark Horse website, lists dimensions as 14 inches long, 11 inches wide, and 3 inches high. The provided sources do not clarify whether Nintendo Life’s quoted measurements refer to shipping or product-page dimensions rather than the book’s trim size. If exact shelf fit matters, buyers should verify the final retailer listing before ordering a protective case, slipcover, or display stand.
What Splatoon fans should expect, and what remains unconfirmed
Based on the provided publisher description, fans should expect an official, art-forward look at Splatoon 3’s visual development with commentary and notes rather than a strategy guide, lore encyclopedia, or mechanical breakdown of competitive play. The confirmed categories include characters, gear, weapons, maps, modes, storyboards, comics, and elements from the game, plus development notes and Squid Research Lab commentary. Dark Horse’s copy also references Splatoon 3 as the 2022 The Game Awards winner for Best Multiplayer Game and a 2023 Japan Game Awards Award for Excellence winner.
What is not confirmed in the supplied material is just as important for buyers deciding whether to preorder immediately. The sources do not specify whether the English book adds pages beyond the Japanese 2023 edition, whether it includes any revised localization notes, or whether it covers later post-launch material in a way that differs from the original Japanese release. Inkipedia describes the Japanese and English versions as 400 pages, which suggests parity in size, but page count alone cannot confirm identical contents.
That uncertainty matters because Splatoon 3 evolved after launch through updates, seasonal content, and an active competitive life, while the Japanese art book is listed as a March 2023 release. The provided sources only confirm the broad contents named by Dark Horse. Fans looking for a definitive record of everything associated with Splatoon 3 should wait for sample pages, a table of contents, or direct publisher confirmation before treating this as an exhaustive archive.
Who should buy the Dark Horse Splatoon 3 hardcover
For artists, character-design obsessives, and players who treat Splatoon’s gear screen like a fashion magazine with weapons attached, The Art of Splatoon 3 sounds like the edition to watch. The value is clearest if you want official concept art in a large hardcover format with developer commentary. A 400-page full-color book at $59.99 is not an impulse buy, but it is positioned as a substantial reference volume rather than a novelty release.
For casual fans, the decision comes down to how much you want the craft separated from the chaos of play. Splatoon 3’s visual identity is easy to absorb in motion and surprisingly hard to study mid-match, when a duel, a flank route, and a sudden Salmonid mess are all fighting for attention. An art book slows that down. It lets you inspect how the designers shaped silhouettes, clothing language, weapon personality, arena flavor, and story material without the pressure of a timer.
The sensible preorder guidance is to buy early if Dark Horse Splatoon 3 art books are the kind of Nintendo shelf piece you know you will keep, especially if you prefer hardcover editions and want the English localization. If you are mainly interested in whether it contains updated or post-launch material beyond the Japanese 2023 release, wait for more granular previews. For now, the confirmed promise is strong and specific: The Art of Splatoon 3 is coming in English as a 400-page Dark Horse hardcover on December 1, 2026, priced at $59.99.