After joining a queue for a multiplayer game mode inSplatoon 3, players may occasionally realize that they need to cancel their matchmaking. However, some fans may be confused about how they are to perform this cancelation, causing them to get stuck participating in rounds that they did not want to play. This guide is here to alleviate that confusion, and it will provide details on two ways to stop matchmaking inSplatoon 3.
Splatoon 3: How to Cancel Matchmaking
Upon initiating matchmaking, players have a limited time during which they can cancel it byholding down the - button. Fans will know that this option is available to them if the word “Cancel” appears below the timer in the top-left corner of the screen, and the amount of time that the feature is accessible for depends on the length of the queue. Notably, when “Cancel” does not appear below the timer it means that players are just a few seconds away from joining amatch inSplatoon 3.
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Alternatively, fans can cancel their matchmaking by fullyclosing the game. This is done by navigating to the Switch’s home screen, highlighting the game’sicon, and pressing X, though players should not use this option if they have just joined a queue and “Cancel” has disappeared. Indeed, doing so may result in theSplatoon 3playerdisconnecting from a match that was initiated while they were closing the game, which will both waste the time of those that joined the match and give a penalty to the disconnecting player.
Instead, this second option should be reserved for when a player has accidentally pressed “Keep Going” between their matches. In this scenario, “Cancel” will never appear on the screen, making it impossible to use the first method. Fans ofthird-person shootersthat plan to exit the game after selecting “Keep Going” should ensure to act quickly, though, as waiting too long can result in the type of disconnection that was previously described.

To note, all of this information is applicable to Turf War, Anarchy Battle, andSalmon Run inSplatoon 3. As such, players should now know how to cancel their matchmaking regardless of the game mode that they are playing. And while quitting out of the game may not be the most elegant way to achieve this goal, it is nice to have an alternative method for when it is simply not possible to use the minus button.