The Splatoon 3 demo is live two days early

If you're jonesing to get a brief early taste of Splatoon 3, the Splatfest World Premiere demo is playable right now, ahead of the online event set to run this weekend.

The Splatfest World Premiere event is set to kick off on Saturday, August 27, offering a taste of the game's three-way Splatfests ahead of the full launch in September. That's when you'll actually be able to play online and enjoy the bulk of the demo's features, but you can download it right now for a quick early look at what's coming.

The demo opens in the desert, as you determine the look of your character and pick a style for your Smallfry companion, known simply as Little Buddy. From there, a brief tutorial mission runs you through the basic controls, including the new Squid Surge, before you hop on the train to Splatsville.

You can freely explore Splatsville and all its shops, though since you're unable to participate in online battles, you can't actually level up to unlock access to purchase things in those stores. You can, however, choose your side in the rock, paper, scissors Splatfest, choose your clothing, and adjust your player banner.

Most importantly, you can draw and make posts that'll show up in everyone's Splatsvilles. Right now, it's a lot of crude Among Us fanart and anime fans declaring their love of yaoi, so yes, this is definitely a series of Splatoon-level memes.

Sadly, there's no access to the test range in the demo right now, so you'll have to wait for Saturday to practice with all the Splatoon 3 weapons.

Check out our Splatoon 3 hands-on preview for insight into what to expect from the single-player campaign.