If you've owned the Nintendo Wii U this year, you've probably heard of a little game called Splatoon, a game that pits 2 teams against each other in a wild online painting contest whilst asking themselves whether they are a kid or a squid now. Since its release in the first quarter of this year, Nintendo has been steadily adding new game modes, weapons, and maps to the game for free. Nintendo has now released more details regarding their plans for future content.
In an interview with Game Informer, co-director Yusuke Amano and producer Hishashi Nogami reflect on Splatoon's cult success and ponder the future. The developers say that their decision to release new content piecemeal stems from their desire to slowly familiarize the player base with the basics before releasing new content, allowing players to use that proficiency to make the online matches in the base game more intense before adding new content. The slow introduction of new mechanics was so that players would have to adapt their strategy to fit the new weapons and maps. They were also positively surprised by the community's response to the singleplayer content, which was initially meant to be just a tutorial.
The most important bit of information that will directly impact the playerbase is that the well of free content will dry up in January, with the two developers saying that they will continue supporting the game via regular bugfixes and balance tweaks. Splatoon's Splatfest feature, a recurring game mode that nets winning players double the experience at the end of the event, will be coming back on a regular basis. There are no plans for paid DLC content either.
The two developers further state that a 3DS version is not in the cards, citing the platforms limitations as a reason for not bringing the game to the popular handheld. Voice chat, which is something players have been asking for since the release of the game, will also not be coming to the game due to the developers' desire to let players figure out strategies via the game's mechanics.
If you want to know what we thought of the game, you can check out Bryan's review here and our updated look at the game from the summer with the content they had added.
