The Japanese release notes for Splatoon's 2.0 update have been released and a lot is going to be changing on Wednesday evening (US time). Although only in Japanese at press time, a well-fleshed translation is available on the Splatoon Reddit page.

The big addition is friend matching, and the notes confirm that a "friends of friends" feature will be available. The Tag Team matches will allow for teams of 2, 3 and 4 - teams of 3 will play teams of 4 but will respawn faster to make up for the numerical disadvantage, while teams of 2 will be grouped with other pairs. The new S and S+ ranks will not change as a result of tag battles.

Another big change is in the scoring of Splatfests, just in time for the weekend's matches of Marshmallows v Hot Dogs and the European matchup of North Pole v South Pole. Starting this weekend, the formula will change to make winning percentage count 4x the total, instead of the current 2x.

Aside from the previously announced terrain changes to Urchin Underpass, several maps will have "certain stage elements" updated for Splat Zones (Arowana Mall), Tower Control (Saltspray Rig) or both (Kelp Dome and Moray Towers). It does not appear Turf Wars will be affected.

Some weapons and gear have been adjusted - Inkzooka and Echolocator have been slowed, while the Killer Wail has been sped up slightly. An issue with Splash Wall and bombs will be fixed, and the Inkstrike and longer range weapons will have their sound effects enhanced for clarity. Finally, the Tenacity and Special Charge Up gear abilities have been fixed.