Big Update coming to Splatoon in August, Developers share more game design details

Nintendo has released an official announcement about Splatoon’s next big update, that will be available to players on August 5th in North America and August 6th in Europe.

This new Splatoon update adds two new matchmaking modes, new weapons, over 40 pieces of new gear and increases the game’s level cap.

Here’s an official overview of the new matchmaking options and weapon types:

The new update introduces Squad Battle and Private Battle matchmaking options. In Squad Battle, players can participate in Ranked Battle rule sets with friends, rather than being teamed up with other players through a random selection. After a player creates a squad, friends can be recruited to form a team of two to four Inklings. Friends will always play together on the same team and battle against other squads at random.

In Private Battle, friends can splat it up in private, customizable matches. Two to eight friends can battle together by selecting their favorite map, mode and weapons. The number of participants ranges from 1v1 to 4v4, but teams don’t have to be even: If the host chooses, he or she can select a 1v4, 1v2, or any other combination of players.

While Inklings around the world are enjoying and mastering the current arsenal of weapons in Splatoon, two new weapon types will be available with the update, adding a new layer of strategy to the game. The bucket-like Slosher weapons hurl ink straight ahead at an impressive range. By adjusting the angle, these new weapons can be used to splat opponents who are up high or even on the other side of a wall. With the Gatling-style Splatling, players can charge blasts of all-powerful ink. A maximum charge unleashes the full potential of this particular weapon type. In addition to the new weapons, more than 40 pieces of gear, including everything from a leather jacket to a sushi-chef costume, are coming to the various in-game shops in Splatoon.

Following the above mentioned update, Splatoon’s level cap will be increased in both Regular Battle and Ranked Battle, making it possible to reach level 50 and ranks S and S+.

In addition to this, the Urchin Underpass map will be “under construction” from August 3rd to August 5th and won’t be available for online matches.

The Nintendo page for the game also states that in Private Battle, two to eight friends will be able to battle together in customizable matches. Moreover, it “allows players to hold small-scale custom tournaments using up to 8 Wii U consoles and games on a single Internet connection”.

According to Nintendo, more content will be coming to Splatoon throughout the summer and fall, and players can look forward to the addition of the Rainmaker Ranked Battle mode, some additional maps and new weapons.

Below you can find some screenshots relating to August update:

Besides the August update, Famitsu magazine interviewed several of the Splatoon developers, including producer Hisashi Nogami, art director Seita Inoue, designer Keisuke Nishimori, sound director Toru Minegishi, and sound composer Yuki Tsuji.

During the interview, Inoue and Nishimori explained how the Inkling design initially centered around the girl version of the Inkling.

“The main emphasis was on the girl, to the extent that we thought at first whether it would be alright to not have a boy (laughs).” – Inoue

“When having a chance to design a new character, there is the fact that it’s rare to have a girl lead in a Nintendo title and also having a strong and active female may make it easier to become accepted overseas. The design was centered on the girl at first, and then the design of a boy was thought of in comparison.” – Nishimori

Next, Inoue and Nogami commented on the Squid Sisters, pointing out that their function is to act as Splatfest announcers, and how they make the polarity easier to understand. Since there are two options in every Splatfest, each is represented by one Squid Sister.

Nogami also stated that:

“The staff was very particular on the dialogue, like ‘Marie doesn’t say a thing like that’, so some adjustments were made. Originally, before they were idols, they were called ‘shrine maidens’ and their role was to transmit divine messages from god to people.”

Following that, Tsuji confirmed that the sound effects were created from scratch for the game:

“Yes. I thought there was no other choice to have sounds of a liquid with such high viscosity than creating them myself. So I went shopping alone during work hours (laughs). I focused on buying things with high viscosity, like borax (an ingredient in making toy slime), starch, solidified jelly and wood glue. Later the person responsible for accounting was calculating these costs and inquired like ‘What’s this?’ I had the difficulty of explaining, ‘I use them in creating sounds of ink!’ (strained laugh)”

Finally, Minegishi left an interesting message for fans regarding the musical tendencies of the squid world:

“By the way, a punk rock band Squid Squad is currently popular in the world of squids, but perhaps the trend will shift a bit in the future, and a different band may appear. Please look forward to it.”

Minegishi also made some comments about the game’s final boss, so if you haven’t reached the end of Single Player yet (like me! XD) be careful of the SPOILERS below:

“It happened in this order: first the name Takowasa [Octavio in the Japanese version, tako means octopus] was decided, then he changed from a wasabi maker to a DJ, and then scratching music was put in (laughs). This background music starts with a rhythm ‘don don don don’ and it was decided to match the rhythm perfectly with the making of wasabi.”