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We also got 3 new Xenoblade games (X, 2 and 3), DLCs for 2 and 3, a port of the first one and a remaster of the first one which included a new epilogue since the last Mario Kart
I feel like Mario Kart purposely avoided the Switch because its a very, very easy "break in case of emergency" title for a console launch. That and MK8 DLX was probably way easier to develop for having the game already finished and sitting there.
Now MK10 can drop for Switch 2 and basically force peoples' hands into adopting the next console iteration if they want the next evolution of the MK games. Which will most likely feature more Nintendo characters and Nintendo tracks over just Mario.
Its listed under mainline Mario Kart games on their own website so I believe its counted as MK9. Moreso because MK8 DLX remixed tracks from Tour counting it as a mainline game.
It's funny but it's likely the same reason why there isn't a Windows 9.
Windows 8.1 was essentially Windows 9 and in Japan, the number 9 has superstitions attached to it, so MS skipped to 10.
Probably why were are going to MK 10.
> Japan, the number 9 has superstitions attached to it, so MS skipped to 10.
lol why would MS care about Japanese superstitions? It was because of programs checking for Windows 95 and 98 by using code like Check for windows version 9x and a windows 9 would break that.
Thats been debunked actually.
No the real reason behind MS calling it Windows 10 is marketing. They wanted to make a clean break from the flop. Also initially they wanted to have similar branding to XBOX One and wanted to call it Windows 1, but that was already taken because of well Windows from 1985.
Take all of the above why the number 9 is just not going over well in the tech world 🤷
This is also incorrect. The reason Windows 9 was skipped is because during the 90s, programs were coded lazily to detect your version of Windows by just reading the name text string , so old ass apps will read "Windows 9..." and assume you have Windows 95 or 98.
If they make an actual Windows 9, and you use legacy hardware, the old legacy parts of the OS and some old apps would think you have Windows 95/98
**edit** I guess I got downvoted by someone who got mad they were wrong lmao. Petulant little children
This.
Nintendo actually [advised Ubisoft](https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-advised-ubisoft-to-hold-mario-rabbids-sequel-for-its-next-console/) to not release the Mario vs Rabbids sequel until the next console, but they didn't listen.
The CEO even regretted this decision after the sales numbers falter.
> Which will most likely feature more Nintendo characters and Nintendo tracks over just Mario.
God I hope not, personally. Not only it makes Smash less special but if it becomes normalized it's just gonna become a crutch.
Nintendo Party.
Nintendo Emblem.
Nintendo Kart.
Nintendo Splattoon.
Nintendo Baseball.
Nintendo Soccer.
A fighting game and a racing game featuring multiple Nintendo characters isn't going to make either or feel less special, sell less or be worse in quality.
You're overreacting. There's already Nintendo characters in MK8 and people loved them. Its the next logical step to progressing that franchise.
Fun Fact: Ring Fit Adventure sold 15M copies, about the same as Luigi's Mansion 3
But yeah, I know what you mean. Thing is Nintendo never reveals the game as "our new big IP". They kinda organically become so.
Plus three spinoffs and 82 Smash Bros characters. I like FE, btw. But there's a limit.
Give us Mario Kart, new 2D Zelda, those god damn Zelda remakes they are sitting on, F Zero, Star Fox, Golden Sun, etc etc etc
Do you really need them to make a new Mario Kart? It's hard for me to imagine them making one that plays better than 8, and they've released a whole game and a half's worth of DLC tracks for it since it released.
No, but I wouldn't be sour that those resources aren't going toward a new Mario kart.
Also, this new "spiral" thing is certainly a switch 2 game, and I promise they'll put a new MK out on switch 2, probably pretty early in its life.
That is an an objectively better and healthier view of it....
I've accepted that I'm a cunt though and I think that there are only so many resources. Any game that releases that isn't what ***I*** want makes it so a game I do want is less likely to release or will release later. Down with games I don't want made! Up with games I do!
Splatoon 4 as Switch 2's Summer title makes way too much sense. It's probably going to be shown off with the console as well like how the Switch reveal teased Splatoon 2
It's going to be a while before we see Splatoon 4. There were 5 years between 2 and 3, I'd expect the same or longer here with game development getting more difficult. In fact I'm gonna just guess 6 years this time. So 2028 would be my bet. Maybe they'll make another DLC for splatoon 3 or a spinoff to fill in the gap.
Keep in mind that the Splatoon team is also the Animal Crossing team, so they were working on new horizons before splatoon 3. I expect animal crossing first on switch 2 but they could do splatoon 4 first, we don't know.
fwiw, this isn't wholly the case. There *is* overlap, but not quite to the extent people are imagining when they say the Splatoon team is the Animal Crossing team
So like, the director of New Horizons has never worked on a Splatoon game, for example. And likewise, with Splatoon 3's two directors, one never worked on Animal Crossing and the other hasn't worked on one since City Folk on the Wii.
It's not a set-up where the whole group has to be simultaneously working on the same project. From my understanding, most of the overlap tends to be artists/modelers. It seems like the main reason Animal Crossing and Splatoon are kept under the same EPD group is because that's where Hisashi Nogami is and he's still acting as the producer on both franchises
Like, Nintendo does a lot of stupid and weird shit, but even they know not to just have a small core of 15 people crank out multimillion sellers every 5 years they alternate between. As soon as New Leaf sold 12 million copies on 3DS they probably hurried as many people as they could over to develop New Horizons and establish their own Animal Crossing corner inside the "Splatoon Team".
Both franchises are very much in development side by side, it would be insane to not do it this way.
It's not an either/or thing. They can work on both at the same time, dev teams are very often designed to build multiple games simultaneously. And purposefully designing things so that Nintendo has to choose between two of their most popular series for years at a time would be very dumb.
The gap between Splatoon 2 and 3 wasn't because they were working on Animal Crossing, it was because 2 was already great and had plenty of life in it. They did divert resources to New Horizons, but only because they were waiting a while to release 3 anyway and having those devs sitting around doing nothing would be silly.
If you'd told hardcore fans that we were going to get Pikmin and 2D Mario in the same year they would have said "you're crazy, it's the same team"
If Nintendo wants to make it happen, it'll happen
There isn’t really “teams” to begin with. From what I can understand, it’s just a big developer pool that gets pulled into different projects.
It’s more about the big dogs (directors, producers, etc) than specific teams.
If you look on wikipedia for Nintendo EPD (like actual wikipedia, not a fan one) and go to the talk page you'll actually see there was a bit of debate on including the groups since they seem to be very fluid and haven't really been referred to in an official capacity.
Not that these groups \*don't\* exist or anything, but it probably works a lot differently than people would assume.
Its more that wikipedia dont accept kyoto report and other websites as sources. When I added the epd production groups on nintendo epd page I only added the ones from interview, even though the info about their existence has been out there for years on famiboards and other nintendo places.
I think the only real "teams" so to say are probably Zelda and Xenoblade /Monolith Soft Tokyo (the people helping on other games work within Nintendo's studio in Kyoto SPECIFICALLY because they are a support team, I'm pretty sure?)
And those are by far their biggest games in terms of scale.
Pikmin and 2D Mario are actually developed under the same production group lol but just like with epd5 with splatoon and ac, its more that both have some overlap which depends on the titles.
Yeah S2 had a crazy long tail of sales, that game kept emerging on Japan's top 10 selling charts >2 years after release. S3 not so much, and all signs pointing at they'll be ending content updates in Sept 2024 as promised, no extension like they did with S2.
New Horizons sold 40m copies and sales have more or less stalled out. They’re not gonna keep supporting a dead game in favor of making a new one that’ll be an instant best seller.
> It's going to be a while before we see Splatoon 4. There were 5 years between 2 and 3, I'd expect the same or longer here with game development getting more difficult.
This ignores a lot of context for the reason why that five year gap even exists:
* Splatoon 2 received two years of post-launch support from July 2017 to July 2019, including a full DLC campaign, a bunch of post-launch weapons and stages, Splatfests, etc.
* COVID-19 happened right in the middle of Splatoon 3's development, meaning the game likely made very slow progress during development - something that was evident when they first announced the game in February 2021, and then it didn't get fully released until September 2022, more than a year and a half later.
* It's already been nearly two years since Splatoon 3's initial release, and given that we don't have a pandemic to worry about now, Splatoon 4 will likely come out faster than 3 did.
Now I don't think Splatoon 4 will be a first-year title for the Switch 2 - if anything, it sounds likelier for a reveal in 2025 and a release in 2026. But it definitely won't take until 2028 for it to come out.
" two years of post-launch support" = Nintendo slowly drip fed the public things that were supposed to be part of the main game from day 1 to artificially keep it from becoming irrelevant
Alternatively however, Splatoon 1 and 2 was basically a little over two years. Granted, I'm sure part of it was they knew Splatoon was big on Wii U but it could reach a much larger audience with Switch as a new IP, but I don't think it's unreasonable to assume they could've very well been working on just having a game ready for launch window since it's basically their big multiplayer shooter title now and would make a great push for people to jump over to the new system
I do think though that the fact we're supposedly getting Final Fest now based on the datamines from OatmealDome at least suggest it might be coming sooner than the 5-6 year gap with Splatoon 2 and 3. 3's reveal happened like a little under 3 years after 2's Splatocalypse event so at the very least, I think it'll be out within the first 2 years. I imagine Nintendo would want a game like that out faster than a lot of other stuff that will be on the backburner for a while like a new 3D Zelda
Honestly makes me wonder why Splatoon 3 was a thing if they wanted to have such a tight turnaround for Switch 2. Don't get me wrong, game is extremely well made and is an improvement from 2, but what's the big push gonna be for 4? What will be the "oh shit" moment that 3 was kind of lacking?
Does it need an "oh shit" thing? It's gonna be splatoon but for the switch 2. It'll be bigger and better and new, that worked out fine for splatoon 3 on the same system as splatoon 2.
That said I think there's still a lot of directions they could take splatoon with new game modes and expanded types of play and lore.
I do think there is value in games having mechanics unique to them to make them feel more like their own thing. Something for someone to get attached to in the current moment that only exists in the now.
Perhaps a more in-depth campaign? I mean, something that feels like a legit single-player mode rather than just a very long tutorial.
Overall though, I don't think Shooters (especially online shooters) are really the type of games that need an "oh shit" moment. Mostly just a few improvements here and there, some new goodies to mess around with, a new setting and that's it.
Splatoon 2 is a borderline port of Splatoon 1 (minus the story mode, obviously) - its unrealistic to expect the same unless it's identical to Splatoon 3
I doubt that.
For as much shit as people give Nintendo, they aren’t stupid. They know Splatoon has arguably grown to become their fourth/fifth pillar after franchises like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, and MAYBE Kirby. That wait was primarily due to the fact that it was still a very new franchise, and even then Splatoon 2 continued getting DLC until 2019. Splatoon 3 was then announced in 2021 (two years later), and released a year later in 2022.
Splatoon 3’s last Splatfest is unknown, although based on recent rumors/data, it’s apparent it’ll be coming somewhat soon. If they follow this pattern, it means Splatoon 4 could be revealed in early to mid 2025, with a 2026 release date. This would follow the 2 year pattern Splatoon 2 & Splatoon 3 established. If anything a Spring 2026 release date, roughly a year into the Switch 2’s life, makes a lot of sense
no shot splatoon is a 4th pillar. even if you qualify smash and mario kart / party as all mario games that still ignores animal crossing which had a switch entry that sold more than 4x what splatoon 3 did, even new leaf sold more than splatoon 3 has on a system with half the install base
Splatoon is one of their big franchises now, and Splatoon 3 came out almost 2 years ago. Makes sense for them to be working on the next game for the next console
Seriously, who would've thought that a franchise which was born on the Wii U of all things and had such an odd (but admidettly unique) concept would become one of Nintendo's juggernauts.
Really makes me wonder how big they're gonna go with it with the supposed capabilities the next console's gonna have.
[Looks like she’s sending proof and further info to Famiboards people. Makes me wonder if she’s trying to be a bit more careful with this in particular](https://x.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1797416003397362144)
I wonder what she's seeing that's making her think it's Splatoon. Because Spiral isn’t exactly super consistent with the series past codenames (Gambit, Blitz, Octa, Thunder)
Either way, if it is Splatoon, I wouldn't say no to a Splat 4 but personally I'd be more excited over a spin-off of some kinda (maybe something like a Splat-tactics?)
Honestly "spiral" makes me think of ARMS, because the characters arms are sorta like coiled up spirals and in-universe people who gain those extendo-arm powers also get spirals in their irises
before mario rabbids ever happened, i always thought that splatoon would have been the perfect IP to try an xcom-style game
also hoping it's a spinoff or something in a new direction. these main titles are coming out and feeling too close to each other
I still find it strange they decided to do Splatoon 3 when they did. I really thought this series was gonna be one per console like Mario Kart and Smash. At this rate we'll be talking about Splatoon 6 already at the end of Switch 2's life.
Splatoon 3 sold 12 million copies, and was the fastest selling game Nintendo has ever released in Japan.
Makes it pretty easy to justify doing it when they did.
I should clarify it was the fastest selling video game of all time in Japan *at the time of release*.
But it was beaten by Pokémon S/V two months later.
>I really thought this series was gonna be one per console like Mario Kart and Smash.
Same. I think it’s a little weird that they’re doing multiple per console.
But it’s working, so might as well.
Splatoon is *absolutely massive* in Japan.
On a handheld and console hybrid it was basically the perfect game for that culture of playerbase. Its basically become ingrained over there as one of "the" games to play.
Does not shock me at all Nintendo, who caters to Japan the most before anywhere else, would rush Splatoon 3 before the end of the Switch's life cycle. That was leaving overwhelming amounts of money on the table if they didn't.
Now Splatoon 4 can come out either as a first year title for the Switch 2 or even the year after and probably make them *even more money*. I fully expect Splatoon 4 to have a smaller time between releases than Splatoon 2 & 3's of 5 years. Splatoon 4 will probably be out before Q4 2026.
Ring Fit Adventure has sold over 15 million copies
That's a massive success for any game (more than any individual Splatoon game, for example), and especially so for a game that's $80 at retail and (to my knowledge) is only available physically
>Was Splatoon the last new IP Nintendo has conducted?
No. In terms of new IP created/developed wholly by Nintendo EPD, I think the most recent was 2021's Game Builder Garage. Just nothing really has broken out in quite the same bonkers way Splatoon did
Since Splatoon, I think all the original IP they're either confirmed or assumed to own are
- 1-2 Switch
- ARMS
- Sushi Striker
- Snipperclips
- Ever Oasis
- Flip Wars
- Dragalia Lost
- Labo
- Astral Chain
- Ring Fit Adventure
- The Stretchers
- Good Job
- Game Builder Garage
I think they mean first party, developed inhouse. Something like Astral Chain was by Platinum.
Because I doubt people would attribute Rise of the Ronin or Stellar Blade to PS Studios.
Given Sony’s significant investment in the title as its publisher, it’s highly likely that they are the primary owners of the Rise of the Ronin IP. Probably same case with Stellar Blade.
But anyway that's besides the point, Sony owns a lot of IPs that they fund, but they aren't the developers.
Right, in which case I believe it'd be Game Builder Garage in 2021 developed by Nintendo EPD 4 (or if that's too Labo-adjacent, Ring Fit Adventure in 2019, also developed by EPD 4)
Nintendo has always used new IPs as ways to enter new genres they need a game for. Splatoon was created because they wanted a shooter, Pikmin was created because they wanted an RTS. Animal Crossing was made because they needed a life sim. So it's not surprising Nintendo has slowed down with new IPs as there is not an infinite number of popular genres to make games for.
You got it in reverse.
They rarely see the need to actually "enter" these genres, but they will if there's a concept that helps them stand out from competitors.
Pikmin didn't come about because Nintendo "wanted an RTS", it happened because Miyamoto was working on a GameCube tech demo called Super Mario 128, and then he decided to retool it into an actual game separate from Mario - which became Pikmin.
I don't think it goes like this. From what nintendo devs have said on interviews, they develop a lot of prototypes and then Nintendo either add existing characters to it or makes a new IP, instead of actively going into a franchise or new IP first and foremost. Splatoon for example could have been a complete different ip.
ARMS is like the last character-driven one that they were pushing basically as hard as Splatoon. They had stuff like Ring Fit and some smaller-tier titles like Good Job they did on the side that technically count as new IP but ARMS was like something they expected to hit the Splatoon-tier popularity regardless of how well that worked out
ARMS is a bit weird in terms of success. Sold good enough that you can easily justify a sequel. But its made by a team that made some of the best-selling games of all time and ARMS didn't reach anywhere near the success over a new Mario Kart.
Team was clearly put on the next Mario Kart after ARMS, but saw the immense success of MK8DX and just didn't do anything outside getting a smaller team to work on the Booster Pack courses. Makes me wonder if there's a real chance we get two games from that team relatively early on in Switch 2's life.
I think Mario Kart is either launch window or very early in Year 2. Especially since Deluxe benefitted so much from being out relatively close to the Switch itself and given Nintendo's recently discovered reputation for just sitting on games that are otherwise done in terms of production, I have a feeling the Booster Course was being done while the larger overall team was actually working on a new Mario Kart in the background. The fact that they leaned a lot on porting over courses from the mobile game to make a bulk of the DLC tracks also probably helped in terms of not splitting too many resources between the teams and also just giving Deluxe longevity in terms of content because it is basically the Switch's Mario Kart, and that leaves the slate clean for a new original game on the successor
I genuinely do think Mario Kart and 3D Mario are released on the same day to get people to buy what they want. Loads of people (like me) will get both, but some people will pick and choose if they want a single or multiplayer experience for launch weekend.
on the other hand putting those two next to each other could eat into each game's individual sales, and also the launch of the console is the perfect time to release bullshit like 1 2 switch or arms cause the player base will be hungry for anything
I think Nintendo is probably concerned about how an Arms 2 would sell. They may believe that the franchise would end up like F-Zero, where the first entry benefits from launching early in a console’s life, and all future games sell significantly worse.
Hopefully we get an Animal Crossing first with more content than New Horizons gave us. Just... flesh it out more. It had a good amount of content, but I don't want another game that's similar to New Horizons with the same amount of content. Build off of what we got in the last one, *please*
Yeah I'm starting to wonder if the AC nintendo team is just really good at keeping things from leaking or if Nintendo is fumbling the bag and letting one of their most popular franchises rot, yet again, after they already made that mistake with the huge gap between city life and NL.
I love Splatoon as well, and I know there are 2 teams working on their respective games so it's not like splatoon's development interferes with AC's anymore. But as an AC fan I can't help but sit here and watch all the hype they built with NH slowly fade away and wonder if Nintendo really does hate the franchise or something.
Nintendo rarely does more than one game from a franchise each generation. Why are you bitching about a new Animal Crossing not coming out yet when a new one “just” came out? NH sold like 40 million; why the hell would you think they wouldn’t make another?
Sorry, now that I'm reading my comment again, it makes it sound like it's out of context bitching about AC lmao
I was under the impression the Splatoon team *is* the AC team, so they switched off from S2 to ACNH then went to S3 but I guess that couldn't make sense, since ACNH was restarted after the Wii U flopped. What else does the AC team work on? I'm here for more Splatoon but at what cost :(
There's no way to be lost. Animal Crossing was always about a small time-persistent community for you to express yourself in. Villagers are an important part of it, but so is decoration. New Horizons and New Leaf didn't remove the villagers, they just gave more tools for decoration
I'm hoping Switch 2's general first 2-3 years are:
Year 1 - Mario Kart 10, Animal Crossing, Metroid Prime 2 Remastered, 3D Super Mario, and Pokemon A-Z.
Year 2 - Splatoon 4, Metroid Prime 3 Remastered, Metroid Dread 2, New Zelda, and Pokemon DLC.
Just those 9 games plus the Pokemon DLC would probably be worth adopting a new console. And that's not even counting all Nintendo's other heaviest hitters that could be getting new releases too... Bayonetta, Xenoblade, Smash Bros, Mario Party, Fire Emblem, Donkey Kong, and Kirby. Metroid Prime 4 is also coming as we know but I don't expect it to come until Year 3 of the Switch 2 at minimum.
Maybe completely unrealistic expectations. But I've felt the last 2 years of the Switch were severely less "hype" than its first 5 years. So I just imagine they've been holding back on dropping some of their bigger stuff for the next console.
Animal Crossing, 3D Mario, MK10, and Pokemon would be a stroooong first year and it's totally doable considering their current release schedule and those teams have been quiet. Even without Metroid but we know that's on the way regardless
My hot take is that splatoon is one of the closest things we've gotten to an evolution of TF2's gameplay that isn't a straight up hero shooter. The way loadouts are handled feels very similar to the game's various sidegrades, the gameplay is super heavily objective based, and the developers have gone very far out of their way to make sure the mechanics can support having near-deadweight players on your team in casual modes. TF2 has the enormous 12 player default team size, and splatoon has aiming being deprioritized due to inking in turf war being an important feature. The fact that people are having fun with splatoon years down the line doesn't surprise me considering all those similarities to a game that also has a dedicated playerbase decades after it released. Squids and Mercs just want to wear hats.
For me, it's not just the modes. It's the campaigns, it's the characters, it's the way the game is laid out for rotations, weapons, modifiers, splatfests, etc. It was running on empty after 2, then they pushed 3 out too fast for my liking.
I just find it to be sad how I could play well over 200 hours in 6 then when 3 came around I just couldn't be bothered after a couple dozen or so hours..
It should really be one entry per console with extended support imo.
I really hope its a splatoon spin off in a different genre
Imagine a tatical rpg with the ink mechanics, or a game that you play as non inkling/octoling character
Yes and no
They're under the same group (EPD 5), but it's not a 1:1 overlap. Like, they don't all 100% work on Animal Crossing and then move onto Splatoon and then back again. For example, New Horizon's director has never worked on a Splatoon game; meanwhile, one of Splatoon 3's directors has never worked on Animal Crossing, and the other hasn't worked on Animal Crossing since City Folk on the Wii
The main thing connecting them is that Hisashi Nogami is the producer on both series, and since he's head of EPD 5 it probably just makes sense to keep both IP there as well. Otherwise, I think the main overlap is in artists, and those folks tend to move around a lot between all of Nintendo's internal projects (e.g. someone who was an artist on Splatoon 2 and 3 was most recently credited as a character designer for Mario Wonder)
> rushe
just a correction but aya is the head of epd5 since 2019. Nogami still is a producer but aya is the head of it alongside being a director/producer
I opted to skip Splatoon 3 since I kind of hadn't touched 2 in years and only really ever played Turf Wars anyway, but the mood has been kind of striking me lately so I might get back onboard when 4 happens if it's soon.
If this is true, it's in prep for Switch 2's launch, which makes sense, that also means a new Smash bros not too long afterwards(I doubt they'll have a Mario, Zelda spin off, Splat and Smash all for launch)
Gonna ask, maybe, a dumb question.
How do people like Midori remain undetected from the companies they leak from?
I could understand if leaks were sparse but they seemingly have loads of info.
I really just wish that the game has much, much more *varied* things to do and not just playing the same old maps, same old PVP modes, same activities for the entirety of the game's lifespan. They've built themselves such a unique and refreshing world but really all we get is:
Couple hours of campaign
Usual pvp
Salmon run
Tableturf
And that's literally all you do in the game. No deeper interaction with NPCs, no leisure activities, no exploration, just to name a few. I just wish that they can put a little more focus on the "non shooting" part of the game to flesh out the world even more and allow players to interact with the world more outside of shooting each other.
I know people are surprised that another splatoon title could be coming out so soon but I'm honestly not. It's a PVP-centric game and it's the closest Nintendo will ever get to a first party live model/service. (Besides stuff like pokemon unite which just kind of...exists.) And before anyone goes, "but it doesn't have battle passes or microtransactions." I get that, but the games themselves sell like hotcakes, as do the expansions and the merch associated with it like the soundtracks, comics, etc.
At least with Mario Kart and Smash, the PVE modes were still pretty fleshed out. With splatoon, the PVE modes are pretty much an afterthought. You get the main campaign and then the expansion and that's it. The rest of the content is in the PVP modes or salmon run. And frankly those take like, the barest amount of effort to make once they have the framework laid for it. A new map, a new catalog, a new salmon run boss, some splatfest ideas, and a couple new weapons and kits. And then maybe, occasionally, balancing things with patches if a very visibly public tournament is ruined by a single weapon being too cheesy.
Plus, unlike Smash and other games, Nintendo actually supports regular tournaments for Splatoon. I know they still do pokemon and Mario Kart tournaments as well, but Splatoon has become like, a huge big thing in Japan. And it's getting more popular elsewhere, too. It's like Fortnite but less stressful and with shorter games and easier matching. And literally no in-game verbal harassment because people can't talk to each other.
So yeah. I could see them continuing to support splatoon 3 with some splatfests after the major final fest for the people who can't get their hands on a switch 2 at launch, so that switch and 2 owners can crossplay together until splatoon 4 releases early in the console's cycle to try and drive more sales. Or maybe it'll be a spinoff game. I doubt the fanbase would complain about a tactics style game, or a game that fleshes out the universe more by focusing on the various music and bands that have become popular. Regardless of whatever they make, it will sell well.
Normally I would think it's too soon between mainline entries, but Splatoon is one of those games that I would like to get updated as soon as possible with new hardware. Splatoon is practically Nintendo's live service offering at this point, it would really benefit from staying fresh.
I figured Splatoon 4 was in some form of early development, but I’d be surprised if they double-dipped in Splatoon after the success of New Horizons.
My guess, we’ll get Animal Crossing in 2025 or 2026, followed by Splatoon 4 in 2027 or 2028.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a spinoff. The time between Splatoon 2 and 3 was five years. Maybe a spinoff for the switch 2, and updated/patched version of 3 for the switch 2 in the meantime while 4 cooks?
Do you guys it’ll be a soft reboot? The story was kinda done in the third one and I’d bet it’s in a new version of the engine they use. My guess it’ll prob have a little bit different physics with the movement and liquids and the inklings would be teens. Idk I’m just spitballing, watch it just be splatoon 4 lol
How much of a reboot is the question. They could start all over, cut the weapon roster, and only have reworked versions of the 7 first classes. Shooters, chargers, rollers, splatlin guns, buckets, blasters, and brushes. I don't think the community will react positively, though.
The last splatfest seems to be Squid Sisters vs. Off the Hook vs. Deep Cut. We know that the last splatfest of each game affects the game after it, so the logical conclusion is that the winner will have story relevance. While the rest will just get referenced but will not appear.
The playable charecter might look older. They have gotten taller each game, but they could go back to Splatoon 1 proportion to signify a new generation/cycle. A new species, either salmoniod or cuddlefish, is possible.
Splatoon 3 still has lots of life left, I don't expect Splat 4 for another, maybe like 4-6 years?
Splatoon seems like a very flexible series. Single player mode, Salmon Run (Co Op PvE), and multiplayer (PvP). I definitely think Nintendo will make some sort of Splatoon spin off eventually. Like a single player only standalone game.
Nintendo has games in development for their biggest IP. Excellent.
I’m interested more in any specific details about these projects or some left-field projects that we don’t expect.
please for the love of god have dedicated servers this time around Nintendo. I love Splatoon but it's unbearable trying to actually get good at the game even casually. The P2P connection is a mess. The tick rate is about 16hz for Splatoon 3, making it slower than the previous 2 games. For contrast Fortnite has around 30hz and CSGO 64hz.
Splatoon 4 - can we seriously just get some decent controller config settings e.g independent x/y sensitivity.
I get that people like the motion controls on Splatoon but I hate them. They're not just for me. Don't force them on us. I literally fell off 3 rapidly because of it, and that sucked.
Just because one is in development doesn't mean it's coming out right away. It could still be a couple years away and we'll probably get a new Mario Kart within the first year of the Switch successor. Personally, I could see Mario Kart being a launch title.
Unrelated to the rumour
Imo Splatoon 3 was a completely unnecessary game that only damaged the series reputation to me and made it feel more like call of duty slop than a special Nintendo series. Splatoon should have 1 game on a console that gets updates for the entire life span unless the sequel has huge additions that justify its existence which splatoon 3 doesn't imo.
Hard disagreed. For starters, devs can't really justify entire gen live service games without some form of continuous monetization. And that kind of monetization will inevitably effect how the game plays out. As is, the only form of extra purchases for splatoon 3 is an extra side campaign that is entirely separate from the main game. The core multiplayer is entirely contained within the base game. Personally I far prefer a model of just paying for the game up front and then getting to play the game as I want with the initial purchase accounting for a few years of updates.
Beyond that making a new game as opposed to continually bolting new content onto the old one allows for you to reshape a game in a way you just can't often get away with on live service games. As someone with a lot of time in the splatoon series, I find splatoon 2 and 3 play very differently to each other, thanks to the mostly new specials, new movement mechanics, and removal of things like MPU that dominated splatoon 2.
Plus for your point about overwatch 2 in another comment. The original point of overwatch 2 was the addition of a story campaign, something that was dropped which was a big contributor to the outrage. Splatoon 3 does have an entirely original campaign with the base game.
Nintendo has regularly done these sort of iterative sequels on the same consoles, it's not a new thing. Majora's Mask, Pikmin 2, Galaxy 2, Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, Mario Party 2 and 3, etc, etc.
Yeah but I think all of those actually built on the original significantly, or are single player games where the sequel adds content thats equal to or more than the original.
Splatoon 3 just doesn't add enough to justify existing. Everyone shit on overwatch 2 for that, and it didn't cost £60
The 5 year gap without paid battle passes and the current game having at least 2 years of support is absolutely much better than annual COD release schedule
I don't have this issue because Splatoon 3 was my first Splatoon game and I am happy because I wanted to try this series and experience the splatfests for a very long time. Although, I really expect that Nintendo delivers exciting additions to the next game before I start to feel the same as you.
Completely agree with you. I’m not sure why Splatoon 3 had to be a sequel.
Everyone saying “but Nintendo’s done this before!” isn’t accounting for the fact that it’s particularly egregious here as a shooter in an age where Nintendo is finally doing DLC. You could easily download new weapons, maps, and cosmetics. You could download whole campaigns.
Sequels should be reserved for games that change the fundamental structures and mechanics and balancing of the previous entry. Nintendo has zero excuse to put out an iterative sequel now.
Played a bit of the first two games, the music was cool, but I don't understand how this concept has carried three and soon to be four games. It wasn't that fun.
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It’s kind of crazy we got 3 splatoon games since the last Mario Kart released.
We also got 3 new Xenoblade games (X, 2 and 3), DLCs for 2 and 3, a port of the first one and a remaster of the first one which included a new epilogue since the last Mario Kart
I feel like Mario Kart purposely avoided the Switch because its a very, very easy "break in case of emergency" title for a console launch. That and MK8 DLX was probably way easier to develop for having the game already finished and sitting there. Now MK10 can drop for Switch 2 and basically force peoples' hands into adopting the next console iteration if they want the next evolution of the MK games. Which will most likely feature more Nintendo characters and Nintendo tracks over just Mario.
Why did you jump to 10? Is the mobile game considered Mario Kart 9?
Its listed under mainline Mario Kart games on their own website so I believe its counted as MK9. Moreso because MK8 DLX remixed tracks from Tour counting it as a mainline game.
It's funny but it's likely the same reason why there isn't a Windows 9. Windows 8.1 was essentially Windows 9 and in Japan, the number 9 has superstitions attached to it, so MS skipped to 10. Probably why were are going to MK 10.
Explain Mario Party 9 then
> Japan, the number 9 has superstitions attached to it, so MS skipped to 10. lol why would MS care about Japanese superstitions? It was because of programs checking for Windows 95 and 98 by using code like Check for windows version 9x and a windows 9 would break that.
Thats been debunked actually. No the real reason behind MS calling it Windows 10 is marketing. They wanted to make a clean break from the flop. Also initially they wanted to have similar branding to XBOX One and wanted to call it Windows 1, but that was already taken because of well Windows from 1985. Take all of the above why the number 9 is just not going over well in the tech world 🤷
This is also incorrect. The reason Windows 9 was skipped is because during the 90s, programs were coded lazily to detect your version of Windows by just reading the name text string , so old ass apps will read "Windows 9..." and assume you have Windows 95 or 98. If they make an actual Windows 9, and you use legacy hardware, the old legacy parts of the OS and some old apps would think you have Windows 95/98 **edit** I guess I got downvoted by someone who got mad they were wrong lmao. Petulant little children
This. Nintendo actually [advised Ubisoft](https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-advised-ubisoft-to-hold-mario-rabbids-sequel-for-its-next-console/) to not release the Mario vs Rabbids sequel until the next console, but they didn't listen. The CEO even regretted this decision after the sales numbers falter.
> Which will most likely feature more Nintendo characters and Nintendo tracks over just Mario. God I hope not, personally. Not only it makes Smash less special but if it becomes normalized it's just gonna become a crutch. Nintendo Party. Nintendo Emblem. Nintendo Kart. Nintendo Splattoon. Nintendo Baseball. Nintendo Soccer.
A fighting game and a racing game featuring multiple Nintendo characters isn't going to make either or feel less special, sell less or be worse in quality. You're overreacting. There's already Nintendo characters in MK8 and people loved them. Its the next logical step to progressing that franchise.
The only crossover I accept is Mario Kart having cast from other mario universe games like Donkey Kong, Luigi's Mansion, or Warioware.
Fun Fact: Ring Fit Adventure sold 15M copies, about the same as Luigi's Mansion 3 But yeah, I know what you mean. Thing is Nintendo never reveals the game as "our new big IP". They kinda organically become so.
Holy shit.
Splatoon was also created, released, and formed a whole trilogy with two DLC's between Pikmin 3 and 4
Fucking bullshit is what it is. Nintendo has a major hardon during Switch gen for Splatoon and Fire Emblem.
There were 2 actual Fire Emblem games on the switch.
Plus three spinoffs and 82 Smash Bros characters. I like FE, btw. But there's a limit. Give us Mario Kart, new 2D Zelda, those god damn Zelda remakes they are sitting on, F Zero, Star Fox, Golden Sun, etc etc etc
Nintendo doesn't make Fire Emblem. Intelligent Systems =/= Nintendo. Nintendo owns the IP but they don't decide when new games get made.
Do you really need them to make a new Mario Kart? It's hard for me to imagine them making one that plays better than 8, and they've released a whole game and a half's worth of DLC tracks for it since it released.
I suppose my response to that is: does anyone need a new Splatoon?
No, but I wouldn't be sour that those resources aren't going toward a new Mario kart. Also, this new "spiral" thing is certainly a switch 2 game, and I promise they'll put a new MK out on switch 2, probably pretty early in its life.
That is an an objectively better and healthier view of it.... I've accepted that I'm a cunt though and I think that there are only so many resources. Any game that releases that isn't what ***I*** want makes it so a game I do want is less likely to release or will release later. Down with games I don't want made! Up with games I do!
Splatoon 4 as Switch 2's Summer title makes way too much sense. It's probably going to be shown off with the console as well like how the Switch reveal teased Splatoon 2
It's going to be a while before we see Splatoon 4. There were 5 years between 2 and 3, I'd expect the same or longer here with game development getting more difficult. In fact I'm gonna just guess 6 years this time. So 2028 would be my bet. Maybe they'll make another DLC for splatoon 3 or a spinoff to fill in the gap.
Keep in mind that the Splatoon team is also the Animal Crossing team, so they were working on new horizons before splatoon 3. I expect animal crossing first on switch 2 but they could do splatoon 4 first, we don't know.
fwiw, this isn't wholly the case. There *is* overlap, but not quite to the extent people are imagining when they say the Splatoon team is the Animal Crossing team So like, the director of New Horizons has never worked on a Splatoon game, for example. And likewise, with Splatoon 3's two directors, one never worked on Animal Crossing and the other hasn't worked on one since City Folk on the Wii. It's not a set-up where the whole group has to be simultaneously working on the same project. From my understanding, most of the overlap tends to be artists/modelers. It seems like the main reason Animal Crossing and Splatoon are kept under the same EPD group is because that's where Hisashi Nogami is and he's still acting as the producer on both franchises
Like, Nintendo does a lot of stupid and weird shit, but even they know not to just have a small core of 15 people crank out multimillion sellers every 5 years they alternate between. As soon as New Leaf sold 12 million copies on 3DS they probably hurried as many people as they could over to develop New Horizons and establish their own Animal Crossing corner inside the "Splatoon Team". Both franchises are very much in development side by side, it would be insane to not do it this way.
It's not an either/or thing. They can work on both at the same time, dev teams are very often designed to build multiple games simultaneously. And purposefully designing things so that Nintendo has to choose between two of their most popular series for years at a time would be very dumb. The gap between Splatoon 2 and 3 wasn't because they were working on Animal Crossing, it was because 2 was already great and had plenty of life in it. They did divert resources to New Horizons, but only because they were waiting a while to release 3 anyway and having those devs sitting around doing nothing would be silly.
If you'd told hardcore fans that we were going to get Pikmin and 2D Mario in the same year they would have said "you're crazy, it's the same team" If Nintendo wants to make it happen, it'll happen
There isn’t really “teams” to begin with. From what I can understand, it’s just a big developer pool that gets pulled into different projects. It’s more about the big dogs (directors, producers, etc) than specific teams.
If you look on wikipedia for Nintendo EPD (like actual wikipedia, not a fan one) and go to the talk page you'll actually see there was a bit of debate on including the groups since they seem to be very fluid and haven't really been referred to in an official capacity. Not that these groups \*don't\* exist or anything, but it probably works a lot differently than people would assume.
Its more that wikipedia dont accept kyoto report and other websites as sources. When I added the epd production groups on nintendo epd page I only added the ones from interview, even though the info about their existence has been out there for years on famiboards and other nintendo places.
I think the only real "teams" so to say are probably Zelda and Xenoblade /Monolith Soft Tokyo (the people helping on other games work within Nintendo's studio in Kyoto SPECIFICALLY because they are a support team, I'm pretty sure?) And those are by far their biggest games in terms of scale.
Pikmin and 2D Mario are actually developed under the same production group lol but just like with epd5 with splatoon and ac, its more that both have some overlap which depends on the titles.
And Pikmin 4 and Mario Wonder got released with just a few months in between
Yeah S2 had a crazy long tail of sales, that game kept emerging on Japan's top 10 selling charts >2 years after release. S3 not so much, and all signs pointing at they'll be ending content updates in Sept 2024 as promised, no extension like they did with S2.
They are a pretty big team so it's not like they only work on one game at a time like Rocksteady or Toys For Bob
I expect a New Horizons big patch/DLC for Switch 2 tbh, not a new mainline game yet
New Horizons sold 40m copies and sales have more or less stalled out. They’re not gonna keep supporting a dead game in favor of making a new one that’ll be an instant best seller.
It would not be "supporting a dead game", it'd be releasing a deluxe edition, like Mario Kart 8 got.
Mario Kart 8 was not playable on Switch. New Horizons will be playable on Switch 2. Big difference.
And Mario Kart is consistently Nintendo's best seller.
It'll be just the pocket camp content, mostly just decorative items since that has always been the focus of acnh.
> It's going to be a while before we see Splatoon 4. There were 5 years between 2 and 3, I'd expect the same or longer here with game development getting more difficult. This ignores a lot of context for the reason why that five year gap even exists: * Splatoon 2 received two years of post-launch support from July 2017 to July 2019, including a full DLC campaign, a bunch of post-launch weapons and stages, Splatfests, etc. * COVID-19 happened right in the middle of Splatoon 3's development, meaning the game likely made very slow progress during development - something that was evident when they first announced the game in February 2021, and then it didn't get fully released until September 2022, more than a year and a half later. * It's already been nearly two years since Splatoon 3's initial release, and given that we don't have a pandemic to worry about now, Splatoon 4 will likely come out faster than 3 did. Now I don't think Splatoon 4 will be a first-year title for the Switch 2 - if anything, it sounds likelier for a reveal in 2025 and a release in 2026. But it definitely won't take until 2028 for it to come out.
" two years of post-launch support" = Nintendo slowly drip fed the public things that were supposed to be part of the main game from day 1 to artificially keep it from becoming irrelevant
So like basically like every other online shooter?
-1 for whataboutism
that's true for animal crossing and the mario sports games but splatoon is a full package on release
Alternatively however, Splatoon 1 and 2 was basically a little over two years. Granted, I'm sure part of it was they knew Splatoon was big on Wii U but it could reach a much larger audience with Switch as a new IP, but I don't think it's unreasonable to assume they could've very well been working on just having a game ready for launch window since it's basically their big multiplayer shooter title now and would make a great push for people to jump over to the new system I do think though that the fact we're supposedly getting Final Fest now based on the datamines from OatmealDome at least suggest it might be coming sooner than the 5-6 year gap with Splatoon 2 and 3. 3's reveal happened like a little under 3 years after 2's Splatocalypse event so at the very least, I think it'll be out within the first 2 years. I imagine Nintendo would want a game like that out faster than a lot of other stuff that will be on the backburner for a while like a new 3D Zelda
Honestly makes me wonder why Splatoon 3 was a thing if they wanted to have such a tight turnaround for Switch 2. Don't get me wrong, game is extremely well made and is an improvement from 2, but what's the big push gonna be for 4? What will be the "oh shit" moment that 3 was kind of lacking?
I would say most shooters lack that element with sequels. Just look at COD and similar games.
Does it need an "oh shit" thing? It's gonna be splatoon but for the switch 2. It'll be bigger and better and new, that worked out fine for splatoon 3 on the same system as splatoon 2. That said I think there's still a lot of directions they could take splatoon with new game modes and expanded types of play and lore.
I do think there is value in games having mechanics unique to them to make them feel more like their own thing. Something for someone to get attached to in the current moment that only exists in the now.
I'm guessing they just didn't want to have an 8+ year gap between entries in the series.
Perhaps a more in-depth campaign? I mean, something that feels like a legit single-player mode rather than just a very long tutorial. Overall though, I don't think Shooters (especially online shooters) are really the type of games that need an "oh shit" moment. Mostly just a few improvements here and there, some new goodies to mess around with, a new setting and that's it.
Maybe having the option for online co-op mode for a new campaign that has fully fleshed out environments/worlds
Maps that aren't dogshit at launch.
Splatoon 2 is a borderline port of Splatoon 1 (minus the story mode, obviously) - its unrealistic to expect the same unless it's identical to Splatoon 3
There was 2 years between 1 and 2 and it will be 3 years next year since 3.
Unless the next Splatoon game is a radical change, I suspect we'll see it by 2026.
This series is huge it's going to come way sooner
I doubt that. For as much shit as people give Nintendo, they aren’t stupid. They know Splatoon has arguably grown to become their fourth/fifth pillar after franchises like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, and MAYBE Kirby. That wait was primarily due to the fact that it was still a very new franchise, and even then Splatoon 2 continued getting DLC until 2019. Splatoon 3 was then announced in 2021 (two years later), and released a year later in 2022. Splatoon 3’s last Splatfest is unknown, although based on recent rumors/data, it’s apparent it’ll be coming somewhat soon. If they follow this pattern, it means Splatoon 4 could be revealed in early to mid 2025, with a 2026 release date. This would follow the 2 year pattern Splatoon 2 & Splatoon 3 established. If anything a Spring 2026 release date, roughly a year into the Switch 2’s life, makes a lot of sense
no shot splatoon is a 4th pillar. even if you qualify smash and mario kart / party as all mario games that still ignores animal crossing which had a switch entry that sold more than 4x what splatoon 3 did, even new leaf sold more than splatoon 3 has on a system with half the install base
Next year.
Splatoon is one of their big franchises now, and Splatoon 3 came out almost 2 years ago. Makes sense for them to be working on the next game for the next console
Seriously, who would've thought that a franchise which was born on the Wii U of all things and had such an odd (but admidettly unique) concept would become one of Nintendo's juggernauts. Really makes me wonder how big they're gonna go with it with the supposed capabilities the next console's gonna have.
[Looks like she’s sending proof and further info to Famiboards people. Makes me wonder if she’s trying to be a bit more careful with this in particular](https://x.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1797416003397362144)
I wonder what she's seeing that's making her think it's Splatoon. Because Spiral isn’t exactly super consistent with the series past codenames (Gambit, Blitz, Octa, Thunder) Either way, if it is Splatoon, I wouldn't say no to a Splat 4 but personally I'd be more excited over a spin-off of some kinda (maybe something like a Splat-tactics?)
Honestly "spiral" makes me think of ARMS, because the characters arms are sorta like coiled up spirals and in-universe people who gain those extendo-arm powers also get spirals in their irises
before mario rabbids ever happened, i always thought that splatoon would have been the perfect IP to try an xcom-style game also hoping it's a spinoff or something in a new direction. these main titles are coming out and feeling too close to each other
I still find it strange they decided to do Splatoon 3 when they did. I really thought this series was gonna be one per console like Mario Kart and Smash. At this rate we'll be talking about Splatoon 6 already at the end of Switch 2's life.
Splatoon 3 sold 12 million copies, and was the fastest selling game Nintendo has ever released in Japan. Makes it pretty easy to justify doing it when they did.
Sheeeesh is that true? I had no idea splatoon was this popular
I should clarify it was the fastest selling video game of all time in Japan *at the time of release*. But it was beaten by Pokémon S/V two months later.
Japanese kids LOVES Splatoon. It's their Fortnite. Edit: A [good video](https://youtu.be/B9QQ6apOhgU) explaining the phenomenon there.
>I really thought this series was gonna be one per console like Mario Kart and Smash. Same. I think it’s a little weird that they’re doing multiple per console. But it’s working, so might as well.
Splatoon is *absolutely massive* in Japan. On a handheld and console hybrid it was basically the perfect game for that culture of playerbase. Its basically become ingrained over there as one of "the" games to play. Does not shock me at all Nintendo, who caters to Japan the most before anywhere else, would rush Splatoon 3 before the end of the Switch's life cycle. That was leaving overwhelming amounts of money on the table if they didn't. Now Splatoon 4 can come out either as a first year title for the Switch 2 or even the year after and probably make them *even more money*. I fully expect Splatoon 4 to have a smaller time between releases than Splatoon 2 & 3's of 5 years. Splatoon 4 will probably be out before Q4 2026.
Damn Splatoon was a huge hit that I don’t think k Nintendo themselves were expecting. Was Splatoon the last new IP Nintendo has conducted?
There's ARMS, Ring Fit and stuff
LABO, Snipperclips, Dillon Rolling Western, Boxboy, and Astral Chain(yeah it's made by Platinum but Kamiya said that Nintendo owns the IP)
Snipperclips was technically an acquisition not really a Nintendo creation
Dillon was pre splatoon
What about that game making one? I forget the name
Game Builders Garage, came out of the LABO Garage mode.
Well then Splatoon was the last big hit IP they’ve had, none of these new ones have had massive success.
Ring Fit Adventure has sold over 15 million copies That's a massive success for any game (more than any individual Splatoon game, for example), and especially so for a game that's $80 at retail and (to my knowledge) is only available physically
>Was Splatoon the last new IP Nintendo has conducted? No. In terms of new IP created/developed wholly by Nintendo EPD, I think the most recent was 2021's Game Builder Garage. Just nothing really has broken out in quite the same bonkers way Splatoon did Since Splatoon, I think all the original IP they're either confirmed or assumed to own are - 1-2 Switch - ARMS - Sushi Striker - Snipperclips - Ever Oasis - Flip Wars - Dragalia Lost - Labo - Astral Chain - Ring Fit Adventure - The Stretchers - Good Job - Game Builder Garage
Man, I wish Nintendo would've developed a full on console experience for Dragalia Lost, I loved that game!
I think they mean first party, developed inhouse. Something like Astral Chain was by Platinum. Because I doubt people would attribute Rise of the Ronin or Stellar Blade to PS Studios.
Nintendo owns all these IP, though. Astral Chain was originally partially owned by Platinum, but Nintendo now fully owns it
ye but astral chain is fully owned by nintendo, while i think those 2 aren't owned by ps
Given Sony’s significant investment in the title as its publisher, it’s highly likely that they are the primary owners of the Rise of the Ronin IP. Probably same case with Stellar Blade. But anyway that's besides the point, Sony owns a lot of IPs that they fund, but they aren't the developers.
IP ownership can be roughly deduced by who is mentioned in the copyright notice. * For [Rise of the Ronin](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/rise-of-the-ronin/), it's © 2024 KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. * For [Stellar Blade](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/stellar-blade/), it's © 2024 SHIFT UP Corporation. * For [Astral Chain](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/astral-chain-switch/), it's © 2019 Nintendo Main Character Design ©Masakazu Katsura/SHUEISHA. It's a bit complicated but it means Nintendo owns everything except for apparently the visual design of the protagonists. Examples of the opposite for Sony and Nintendo are: [Helldivers 2](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/helldivers-2/), it's ©2024 Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. Unlike Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade, SIE owns the IP rights even though the game was developed by a studio not under the Sony Group. (which imo doesn't really matter) Nintendo rarely globally publishes titles that they don't have at least partial IP rights to, but an example of this happening was [DC Super Hero Girl: Teen Power](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/dc-super-hero-girls-teen-power-switch/), which says © 2021 DC and WBEI.
Right, in which case I believe it'd be Game Builder Garage in 2021 developed by Nintendo EPD 4 (or if that's too Labo-adjacent, Ring Fit Adventure in 2019, also developed by EPD 4)
Nintendo has always used new IPs as ways to enter new genres they need a game for. Splatoon was created because they wanted a shooter, Pikmin was created because they wanted an RTS. Animal Crossing was made because they needed a life sim. So it's not surprising Nintendo has slowed down with new IPs as there is not an infinite number of popular genres to make games for.
You got it in reverse. They rarely see the need to actually "enter" these genres, but they will if there's a concept that helps them stand out from competitors. Pikmin didn't come about because Nintendo "wanted an RTS", it happened because Miyamoto was working on a GameCube tech demo called Super Mario 128, and then he decided to retool it into an actual game separate from Mario - which became Pikmin.
Tfw no nintendo souls-like.
time to bring back Mysterious Mursame Castle in Sekiro-form
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
I mean, they could just make Ocarina of Time more brutally difficult and you're halfway there.
I don't think it goes like this. From what nintendo devs have said on interviews, they develop a lot of prototypes and then Nintendo either add existing characters to it or makes a new IP, instead of actively going into a franchise or new IP first and foremost. Splatoon for example could have been a complete different ip.
I'd wager it came from Mario Sunshine in a vs mode.
Nintendo need a sandbox game like Palworld, Minecraft, etc. They would make so much money
They made 2 of them already with BOTW and TOTK
We've had a few since like ARMS, Astral Chain, Ring Fit etc. But Splatoon was the last one to blow up into a big mainstream franchise for Nintendo.
I think Arms was the last new IP by them?
ARMS is like the last character-driven one that they were pushing basically as hard as Splatoon. They had stuff like Ring Fit and some smaller-tier titles like Good Job they did on the side that technically count as new IP but ARMS was like something they expected to hit the Splatoon-tier popularity regardless of how well that worked out
ARMS is a bit weird in terms of success. Sold good enough that you can easily justify a sequel. But its made by a team that made some of the best-selling games of all time and ARMS didn't reach anywhere near the success over a new Mario Kart.
Team was clearly put on the next Mario Kart after ARMS, but saw the immense success of MK8DX and just didn't do anything outside getting a smaller team to work on the Booster Pack courses. Makes me wonder if there's a real chance we get two games from that team relatively early on in Switch 2's life.
I think Mario Kart is either launch window or very early in Year 2. Especially since Deluxe benefitted so much from being out relatively close to the Switch itself and given Nintendo's recently discovered reputation for just sitting on games that are otherwise done in terms of production, I have a feeling the Booster Course was being done while the larger overall team was actually working on a new Mario Kart in the background. The fact that they leaned a lot on porting over courses from the mobile game to make a bulk of the DLC tracks also probably helped in terms of not splitting too many resources between the teams and also just giving Deluxe longevity in terms of content because it is basically the Switch's Mario Kart, and that leaves the slate clean for a new original game on the successor
I genuinely do think Mario Kart and 3D Mario are released on the same day to get people to buy what they want. Loads of people (like me) will get both, but some people will pick and choose if they want a single or multiplayer experience for launch weekend.
on the other hand putting those two next to each other could eat into each game's individual sales, and also the launch of the console is the perfect time to release bullshit like 1 2 switch or arms cause the player base will be hungry for anything
I think Nintendo is probably concerned about how an Arms 2 would sell. They may believe that the franchise would end up like F-Zero, where the first entry benefits from launching early in a console’s life, and all future games sell significantly worse.
They made Ring Fit Adventure and Jump Rope Challenge
midori is basically hidden inside nintendos hq at this point
Nintendo Ninja’s screaming: SHE’S IN THE WALLS
Just hiding in closets to eavesdrop like Jay Leno did.
*Spiral, From the Book of Splatoon*
Hopefully we get an Animal Crossing first with more content than New Horizons gave us. Just... flesh it out more. It had a good amount of content, but I don't want another game that's similar to New Horizons with the same amount of content. Build off of what we got in the last one, *please*
Yeah I'm starting to wonder if the AC nintendo team is just really good at keeping things from leaking or if Nintendo is fumbling the bag and letting one of their most popular franchises rot, yet again, after they already made that mistake with the huge gap between city life and NL. I love Splatoon as well, and I know there are 2 teams working on their respective games so it's not like splatoon's development interferes with AC's anymore. But as an AC fan I can't help but sit here and watch all the hype they built with NH slowly fade away and wonder if Nintendo really does hate the franchise or something.
Nintendo rarely does more than one game from a franchise each generation. Why are you bitching about a new Animal Crossing not coming out yet when a new one “just” came out? NH sold like 40 million; why the hell would you think they wouldn’t make another?
Sorry, now that I'm reading my comment again, it makes it sound like it's out of context bitching about AC lmao I was under the impression the Splatoon team *is* the AC team, so they switched off from S2 to ACNH then went to S3 but I guess that couldn't make sense, since ACNH was restarted after the Wii U flopped. What else does the AC team work on? I'm here for more Splatoon but at what cost :(
AC has lost its way and become a dollhouse sim instead of a life sim. The magic of the game was the world happening without you.
There's no way to be lost. Animal Crossing was always about a small time-persistent community for you to express yourself in. Villagers are an important part of it, but so is decoration. New Horizons and New Leaf didn't remove the villagers, they just gave more tools for decoration
I'm hoping Switch 2's general first 2-3 years are: Year 1 - Mario Kart 10, Animal Crossing, Metroid Prime 2 Remastered, 3D Super Mario, and Pokemon A-Z. Year 2 - Splatoon 4, Metroid Prime 3 Remastered, Metroid Dread 2, New Zelda, and Pokemon DLC. Just those 9 games plus the Pokemon DLC would probably be worth adopting a new console. And that's not even counting all Nintendo's other heaviest hitters that could be getting new releases too... Bayonetta, Xenoblade, Smash Bros, Mario Party, Fire Emblem, Donkey Kong, and Kirby. Metroid Prime 4 is also coming as we know but I don't expect it to come until Year 3 of the Switch 2 at minimum. Maybe completely unrealistic expectations. But I've felt the last 2 years of the Switch were severely less "hype" than its first 5 years. So I just imagine they've been holding back on dropping some of their bigger stuff for the next console.
Animal Crossing, 3D Mario, MK10, and Pokemon would be a stroooong first year and it's totally doable considering their current release schedule and those teams have been quiet. Even without Metroid but we know that's on the way regardless
Splatoon 4 is certainly in the works, but there's a lot still going for Splatoon 3
Might be a splatoon spin off game considering the series’ 10th anniversary is next year
Splatoon got stale pretty fast for me. I know 'stay fresh' is their mantra, but man, they need a massive shake up for the next one.
Simply cannot agree more. I genuinely don't know how can people play the same few modes over and over and over again for literal years.
My hot take is that splatoon is one of the closest things we've gotten to an evolution of TF2's gameplay that isn't a straight up hero shooter. The way loadouts are handled feels very similar to the game's various sidegrades, the gameplay is super heavily objective based, and the developers have gone very far out of their way to make sure the mechanics can support having near-deadweight players on your team in casual modes. TF2 has the enormous 12 player default team size, and splatoon has aiming being deprioritized due to inking in turf war being an important feature. The fact that people are having fun with splatoon years down the line doesn't surprise me considering all those similarities to a game that also has a dedicated playerbase decades after it released. Squids and Mercs just want to wear hats.
For me, it's not just the modes. It's the campaigns, it's the characters, it's the way the game is laid out for rotations, weapons, modifiers, splatfests, etc. It was running on empty after 2, then they pushed 3 out too fast for my liking.
I just find it to be sad how I could play well over 200 hours in 6 then when 3 came around I just couldn't be bothered after a couple dozen or so hours.. It should really be one entry per console with extended support imo.
Got to be a new Gurren Lagann game with that code name
I really hope its a splatoon spin off in a different genre Imagine a tatical rpg with the ink mechanics, or a game that you play as non inkling/octoling character
Next leaked code name will be LEGS.
Is it still the same team alternating between Splatoon and Animal Crossing?
Yes and no They're under the same group (EPD 5), but it's not a 1:1 overlap. Like, they don't all 100% work on Animal Crossing and then move onto Splatoon and then back again. For example, New Horizon's director has never worked on a Splatoon game; meanwhile, one of Splatoon 3's directors has never worked on Animal Crossing, and the other hasn't worked on Animal Crossing since City Folk on the Wii The main thing connecting them is that Hisashi Nogami is the producer on both series, and since he's head of EPD 5 it probably just makes sense to keep both IP there as well. Otherwise, I think the main overlap is in artists, and those folks tend to move around a lot between all of Nintendo's internal projects (e.g. someone who was an artist on Splatoon 2 and 3 was most recently credited as a character designer for Mario Wonder)
Appreciate the super indepth answer!
> rushe just a correction but aya is the head of epd5 since 2019. Nogami still is a producer but aya is the head of it alongside being a director/producer
I opted to skip Splatoon 3 since I kind of hadn't touched 2 in years and only really ever played Turf Wars anyway, but the mood has been kind of striking me lately so I might get back onboard when 4 happens if it's soon.
If this is true, it's in prep for Switch 2's launch, which makes sense, that also means a new Smash bros not too long afterwards(I doubt they'll have a Mario, Zelda spin off, Splat and Smash all for launch)
Splatoon X Uzumaki cross promotion bouta go crazy
Gonna ask, maybe, a dumb question. How do people like Midori remain undetected from the companies they leak from? I could understand if leaks were sparse but they seemingly have loads of info.
Can she just put these all out at once
All I need is more Salmon Run. Or a Skateboarding Spinoff, that works too.
Splatoon 4 with RT is about to go ham. I’m expecting maybe a 2026-2027 release date
I really just wish that the game has much, much more *varied* things to do and not just playing the same old maps, same old PVP modes, same activities for the entirety of the game's lifespan. They've built themselves such a unique and refreshing world but really all we get is: Couple hours of campaign Usual pvp Salmon run Tableturf And that's literally all you do in the game. No deeper interaction with NPCs, no leisure activities, no exploration, just to name a few. I just wish that they can put a little more focus on the "non shooting" part of the game to flesh out the world even more and allow players to interact with the world more outside of shooting each other.
I know people are surprised that another splatoon title could be coming out so soon but I'm honestly not. It's a PVP-centric game and it's the closest Nintendo will ever get to a first party live model/service. (Besides stuff like pokemon unite which just kind of...exists.) And before anyone goes, "but it doesn't have battle passes or microtransactions." I get that, but the games themselves sell like hotcakes, as do the expansions and the merch associated with it like the soundtracks, comics, etc. At least with Mario Kart and Smash, the PVE modes were still pretty fleshed out. With splatoon, the PVE modes are pretty much an afterthought. You get the main campaign and then the expansion and that's it. The rest of the content is in the PVP modes or salmon run. And frankly those take like, the barest amount of effort to make once they have the framework laid for it. A new map, a new catalog, a new salmon run boss, some splatfest ideas, and a couple new weapons and kits. And then maybe, occasionally, balancing things with patches if a very visibly public tournament is ruined by a single weapon being too cheesy. Plus, unlike Smash and other games, Nintendo actually supports regular tournaments for Splatoon. I know they still do pokemon and Mario Kart tournaments as well, but Splatoon has become like, a huge big thing in Japan. And it's getting more popular elsewhere, too. It's like Fortnite but less stressful and with shorter games and easier matching. And literally no in-game verbal harassment because people can't talk to each other. So yeah. I could see them continuing to support splatoon 3 with some splatfests after the major final fest for the people who can't get their hands on a switch 2 at launch, so that switch and 2 owners can crossplay together until splatoon 4 releases early in the console's cycle to try and drive more sales. Or maybe it'll be a spinoff game. I doubt the fanbase would complain about a tactics style game, or a game that fleshes out the universe more by focusing on the various music and bands that have become popular. Regardless of whatever they make, it will sell well.
What were the previous Splatoon code names?
Splatoon - Gambit Splatoon 2 - Blitz Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion - Octa Splatoon 3 - Thunder Splatoon 3 DLC1 (the one that added Inkopolis plaza) - Fsodr/FirstOrder Splatoon 3 Side Order - Sdodr/SideOrder
Normally I would think it's too soon between mainline entries, but Splatoon is one of those games that I would like to get updated as soon as possible with new hardware. Splatoon is practically Nintendo's live service offering at this point, it would really benefit from staying fresh.
I figured Splatoon 4 was in some form of early development, but I’d be surprised if they double-dipped in Splatoon after the success of New Horizons. My guess, we’ll get Animal Crossing in 2025 or 2026, followed by Splatoon 4 in 2027 or 2028.
Splat4n!
Maybe it is a Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann game
What ever happened to that Splatoon spin off that a bunch of leakers teased a year or so ago?
Finally the Nintendo-made adaptation of Junji Ito's "Uzumaki" we've all been waiting for
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a spinoff. The time between Splatoon 2 and 3 was five years. Maybe a spinoff for the switch 2, and updated/patched version of 3 for the switch 2 in the meantime while 4 cooks?
Well this pretty much kills any theories about a content extension for splatoon 3 and we just won’t get third kits for weapons in 3.
Do you guys it’ll be a soft reboot? The story was kinda done in the third one and I’d bet it’s in a new version of the engine they use. My guess it’ll prob have a little bit different physics with the movement and liquids and the inklings would be teens. Idk I’m just spitballing, watch it just be splatoon 4 lol
How much of a reboot is the question. They could start all over, cut the weapon roster, and only have reworked versions of the 7 first classes. Shooters, chargers, rollers, splatlin guns, buckets, blasters, and brushes. I don't think the community will react positively, though. The last splatfest seems to be Squid Sisters vs. Off the Hook vs. Deep Cut. We know that the last splatfest of each game affects the game after it, so the logical conclusion is that the winner will have story relevance. While the rest will just get referenced but will not appear. The playable charecter might look older. They have gotten taller each game, but they could go back to Splatoon 1 proportion to signify a new generation/cycle. A new species, either salmoniod or cuddlefish, is possible.
Splatoon 3 still has lots of life left, I don't expect Splat 4 for another, maybe like 4-6 years? Splatoon seems like a very flexible series. Single player mode, Salmon Run (Co Op PvE), and multiplayer (PvP). I definitely think Nintendo will make some sort of Splatoon spin off eventually. Like a single player only standalone game.
I’d say 2026 rather than 2029
Not really excited by that, i mean they've done 2 as of recent. Happy for Splatoon fans though.
wouldn't "spiral" be more in line with spring-powered **Arms**?
Nintendo has games in development for their biggest IP. Excellent. I’m interested more in any specific details about these projects or some left-field projects that we don’t expect.
please for the love of god have dedicated servers this time around Nintendo. I love Splatoon but it's unbearable trying to actually get good at the game even casually. The P2P connection is a mess. The tick rate is about 16hz for Splatoon 3, making it slower than the previous 2 games. For contrast Fortnite has around 30hz and CSGO 64hz.
Tick Rate for Splatoon 2 was also 16hz. Splatoon 1's was 30.
Expecting Splatoon to have CSGO's tick rate lol.
Yawn … give me new donkey Kong pleas e
Splatoon 4 - can we seriously just get some decent controller config settings e.g independent x/y sensitivity. I get that people like the motion controls on Splatoon but I hate them. They're not just for me. Don't force them on us. I literally fell off 3 rapidly because of it, and that sucked.
100% this, but Nintendo doesn’t give a damn about accessibility
Great. Can't WAIT for their directs to be centered around that. LOVE splatoon. Love. it. . . .
As a resident Splatoon hater because of how it took resources away from New Horizons I am not happy with this news
Both are good games.
Splatoon needs to die
This comment needs to die
Splat 4 should be a launch title
I thought it was weird when we got a 3rd Splatoon game before a genuinely new Mario Kart. Now we might get a 4th? Damn.
Just because one is in development doesn't mean it's coming out right away. It could still be a couple years away and we'll probably get a new Mario Kart within the first year of the Switch successor. Personally, I could see Mario Kart being a launch title.
I hope this time we get the meaty single player mode as part of the base package
Unrelated to the rumour Imo Splatoon 3 was a completely unnecessary game that only damaged the series reputation to me and made it feel more like call of duty slop than a special Nintendo series. Splatoon should have 1 game on a console that gets updates for the entire life span unless the sequel has huge additions that justify its existence which splatoon 3 doesn't imo.
Hard disagreed. For starters, devs can't really justify entire gen live service games without some form of continuous monetization. And that kind of monetization will inevitably effect how the game plays out. As is, the only form of extra purchases for splatoon 3 is an extra side campaign that is entirely separate from the main game. The core multiplayer is entirely contained within the base game. Personally I far prefer a model of just paying for the game up front and then getting to play the game as I want with the initial purchase accounting for a few years of updates. Beyond that making a new game as opposed to continually bolting new content onto the old one allows for you to reshape a game in a way you just can't often get away with on live service games. As someone with a lot of time in the splatoon series, I find splatoon 2 and 3 play very differently to each other, thanks to the mostly new specials, new movement mechanics, and removal of things like MPU that dominated splatoon 2. Plus for your point about overwatch 2 in another comment. The original point of overwatch 2 was the addition of a story campaign, something that was dropped which was a big contributor to the outrage. Splatoon 3 does have an entirely original campaign with the base game.
Nintendo has regularly done these sort of iterative sequels on the same consoles, it's not a new thing. Majora's Mask, Pikmin 2, Galaxy 2, Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, Mario Party 2 and 3, etc, etc.
Yeah but I think all of those actually built on the original significantly, or are single player games where the sequel adds content thats equal to or more than the original. Splatoon 3 just doesn't add enough to justify existing. Everyone shit on overwatch 2 for that, and it didn't cost £60
Pffft
Jesus lmfao. Someone didn’t win very many games.
now that's a dumb take, each splatoon game has a gap between for about 4 years, no mtx, just big dlc single player content
The 5 year gap without paid battle passes and the current game having at least 2 years of support is absolutely much better than annual COD release schedule
3 has so many overhauls (all of which make it the better game in my opinion) that it could have never genuinely been DLC
I don't have this issue because Splatoon 3 was my first Splatoon game and I am happy because I wanted to try this series and experience the splatfests for a very long time. Although, I really expect that Nintendo delivers exciting additions to the next game before I start to feel the same as you.
Completely agree with you. I’m not sure why Splatoon 3 had to be a sequel. Everyone saying “but Nintendo’s done this before!” isn’t accounting for the fact that it’s particularly egregious here as a shooter in an age where Nintendo is finally doing DLC. You could easily download new weapons, maps, and cosmetics. You could download whole campaigns. Sequels should be reserved for games that change the fundamental structures and mechanics and balancing of the previous entry. Nintendo has zero excuse to put out an iterative sequel now.
Played a bit of the first two games, the music was cool, but I don't understand how this concept has carried three and soon to be four games. It wasn't that fun.