Nintendo has announced a major update dropping August 6th for its team-based, third person, ink-splattered shooter Splatoon. The free update brings with it “two new matchmaking modes, new weapon types, an increase to the game’s level-cap and more than 40 pieces of new gear”.
The first of the two new modes is Squad Battle in which “players can participate in Ranked Battle rule sets with friends” rather than random matchmaking. After creating a squad, friends of the player can then be recruited for teams of 2 to 4 players. They then compete against similarly formed squads at random.
The second mode is called Private Battle, which Nintendo says will allow friends to “splat it up in private, customisable matches”. As M-rated as that mode might sound, it’s all in good fun since it allows friends to cater to their group with any weapon set, map, mode, and variable team sizes—even uneven matches such as 1v2 or 1v4.
Nintendo has also promised two new weapons. There are the bucket-like Slosher weapons that “hurl ink straight ahead at an impressive range” and the Gatling-style Splatling, with which “players can charge all-powerful ink”. The update also brings more than 40 pieces of gear for your inkling to deck itself out in.
Despite the update’s grand scale, Nintendo has assured players that this is not the last of the free content rollouts. Splatoon released back in May and has since sold over one million copies—that’s a lot of ink. We thought Splatoon was creative and fresh, but perhaps lacking in content at launch. Do you think this update gives the game a fresh coat of paint? Let us know in the comments! For more on Splatoon, you’re already in the right place with Gamespresso.