Splatoon (video game)

Splatoon is a 2015 third-person shooter game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. The game centers around player-controlled Inklings—squid-like creatures that can transform between humanoid and cephalopodic forms at will. The game centers on a variety of four-on-four online multiplayer game modes that sees Inklings use a variety of weapons that can produce and shoot ink while in their humanoid forms or tread through and hide in surfaces covered in their own ink while in their cephalopodic forms. It also includes a dedicated single-player story campaign. Splatoon was developed by a young group of employees at Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis & Development (EPD) division, and originated from a competitive multiplayer ink-based territory control prototype game. Developers initially conceived its player characters as anthropomorphic rabbits, taking cues from their territorial tendencies in the real world. This idea was met with criticism from others around the company, who maintained that having rabbits shoot ink did not make inherent sense. This resulted in the team pivoting to squid-human hybrids and eventually characters that could transform between wholly humanoid and wholly cephalopodic forms. The visual characteristics of the squid characters, now named Inklings, were inspired by the mannerisms of skateboarders. Splatoon received positive reviews, with critics praising Nintendo's decision to enter the genre with a new franchise, the game's overall style and presentation, gameplay mechanics, and its soundtrack. However, criticism was directed at the exclusion of voice chat and private lobbies, the small number of multiplayer maps at launch, and issues with online matchmaking. Nintendo provided post-release support for the game by adding new maps and weapons to the game, adding a feature to allow users to create private lobbies and holding time-limited events called "Splatfests". Splatoon was awarded and nominated for several year-end accolades from several gaming publications. It spawned a...