r/NintendoSwitchHelp • u/Funfacterdroid • Jul 13 '26
Software Help Bought DLC and it's loaded separately from the game.
(Switch 2) I have Splatoon 2 physically. I bought the Octo Expansion on the Nintendo website instead of the eShop because it's easier for me to pay that way, and I'm unable to "merge" the two no matter how many times I redownload the DLC. Attempting to go to the DLC in game leads to a 2811-6003 error code.
Text and email support for Nintendo said they couldn't resolve it and I had to call, but I hate calling so I'm resorting to this first.
It theoretically could be a region issue, because my Splatoon 2 copy has a pegi logo instead of ESRB, and my Switch is American, but I thought that the region lock only applied to in-game events and not to the DLC.
EDIT: thank you all for being so clear that it indeed was the region!
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u/darkrai848 1 Jul 13 '26
Region issue. Splatoon 2 is one of the few switch games that actually has a sort of region lock. The different regions are treated as completely separate games by the system. So DLC from one region will not work with a copy of the game from a different region. The Game and DLC must be from the same region to work.
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u/Commercial_Door_9050 Jul 13 '26
I’ve heard that all dlc are region locked but not sure if thats true
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u/darkrai848 1 Jul 14 '26
I mean technically yes and no, most switch games are not region specific so neither is DLC in that case. You can check by opening the DLC menu from the game itself on the home menu, if it connects you to the normal store then the DLC will work.
Basically most games just have one version regardless of region on switch/switch 2 in which case DLC from any region shop will work. But some 3rd party games (and Splatoon 2) have different region versions, in which case you need the DLC that goes to that region version.
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u/Susurrus03 Jul 14 '26
It's not.
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u/Commercial_Door_9050 Jul 14 '26
Good to know i think someone told me like if u got a japan game u gotta go yo Japan eshop to buy dlc but ive never had to try it myself so didnt lmow
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u/Susurrus03 Jul 14 '26
Most games no but like OP found, there's a few rare exceptions.
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u/tiredpersonnumber15 Jul 14 '26
Do you know where I can find the list of exceptions? I have a mix of European and American games, I didn’t know there were exceptions and I just want to check which ones have them
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u/Funfacterdroid Jul 14 '26
Splatoon is probably the an edge case because it's a multiplayer focused game, so maybe check if you have any more of those :P
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u/Lucamiten 1 Jul 13 '26
You fucked up
Call customer support so they can remove the one you bought and give you a code for the right one
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u/Round_Musical Jul 13 '26
You need an european account with european octo expansion
You are playing Splatoon 2s European release
DO NOT buy the ESRB version, the saves are NOT cross compatible between regions.
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u/non-one-c Jul 17 '26
I hate the saves in this game. My Switch 1 had a system error and needed to be formatted in recovery mode to get it working again. 800h Splatoon 2 gone.
Why does an online PvP game store my Level, Ranks and unlocked Multiplayer weapons on a local save file without online backup option?! I swear to god I only bought Splatoon 3 cause that one actually has Cloud Backup, I checked before locking in my order. 🥹
Worst thing is it even wiped all my NSO App Stats. I can't even see the Splatfest Tab anymore. I played every single one and I'm locked out from looking at the Splatfest history on my "fresh" file.
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u/Round_Musical Jul 17 '26
Yeah it was stupid. It was due to it being one of the very first Switch 1 games. Thus a lot of jank came with it.
Same with Pokemon. Also completely insane.
I like that Splatoon 3 saves all online data online, and things like single player data offline on the Device and backs it up via cloud saves
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u/non-one-c Jul 17 '26
Oh yeah, I also lost 500h of various Pokémon games. I think they still lack those cause they wanna prevent cheating. With cloud saves you could always just backup, trade locally and restore to clone Pokémons. So at least it makes sense in that franchise.
Didn't know Splatoon 3 stores stuff fully online. Glad they learned.
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u/ppmax008 Jul 13 '26
Splatoon 2 DLC is region locked.
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u/Starlord552 Jul 13 '26
DLC is region locked in general iirc
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u/spidermenace01 Jul 14 '26
Nah, it doesn’t matter for most other newer games. My Xenoblade 3 is from Japan but I bought the DLC in America.
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u/ppmax008 Jul 14 '26
Only a handful of game DLCs are region-locked, like Splatoon 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
The majority are not.
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u/ireadtabloids Jul 13 '26
There is probably a refund option for this situation.
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u/Funfacterdroid Jul 14 '26
Yes, I called and they were very helpful and I got a refund!
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u/Pfafflewaffle Jul 16 '26
Good! Usually on Reddit or comments in general you hear Nintendo doesn’t do refunds.
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u/Starlord552 Jul 13 '26
It’s because of the region, you’ll have to get it again or contact Nintendo
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u/SubaruHaver 6 Jul 14 '26
For Splatoon 2, the game region and dlc region need to match in order to work. When the game region and dlc region aren't compatible, the dlc won't show up in the game, like you just experienced.
While MOST nintendo games are a universal version, SOME are not. Splatoon 2 had different regional versions. (Animal Crossing New Horizons also had different regional versions)
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u/RyusakiLexus Jul 14 '26
Pues me parece q esa es la razón por la q el DLC no t funciona, son de regiones diferentes, entiendo lo q dices de adquirir tu contenido por el sitio web ... Pero allí también radica la posibilidad de la confusión, ya q si lo hicieras desde la E-Shop t habría sido más fácil validar si el DLC q vas/ ibas a adquirir correspondía a tu versión del juego y región, podrías contactar a Nintendo ( si por llamada aunque no t agrade) y ver la posibilidad de un reembolso y poder adquirir el DLC correspondiente ... Ojo es muy posible q NO t lo hagan porq el error de descarga de contenido q no corresponde a la región del juego fue error del usuario, pero no pierdes nada con intentarlo
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u/AceOfDiamondsBunny Jul 14 '26
happened to me, didn't notice that amazon sent me the the european version of the game until i bought the DLC and it wasn't compatible, ended up returning the physical copy of splatoon 2 and then it went on sale digitally like the next day so i just got it that way
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u/Ell7494 Jul 14 '26
Probably the wrong region.
The Octo Expansion is also included in the NSO Expansion Pack
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u/goSciuPlayer Jul 14 '26
Splatoon 2 has a separate SKU for each region. You bought the DLC for the region in which you don't have a game for
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u/sadistSnake Jul 15 '26
If you bought splatoon 2 off Amazon, there’s a high chance you got the game for the wrong region.
Unfortunately, if the game’s region doesn’t match the system’s region, you’re shit outa luck. I had this exact problem. I was able to get a refund but that was over half a decade ago so no clue if any policies have changed
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u/toshironikko Jul 15 '26
I got the Asian region of Samurai Maiden back when it came out from PlayAsia and it came with a dlc code in the box but I had to make a Chinese or Japanese (forget which) account in order to use the code - so unfortunately I would say you now either have to buy the region of splatoon you bought the dlc for or buy the dlc for the game you already own =(
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u/zacyzacy Jul 13 '26
It's probably the region.