Random: Splatoon 2’s Final Splatfest Dictated The Direction Of Splatoon 3

Nintendo has kicked off another round of ‘Ask the Developer‘, a series in which key members of a game’s development team dive into the creative process behind some of Nintendo’s biggest Switch games. This time, of course, we’re looking at Splatoon 3, which is due to release later this week. You can read the full interview with the game’s developers right here.

In discussing how the series has grown with its audience and how Nintendo landed on the creative direction for Splatoon 3, game director Seita Inoue revealed a rather surprising source of inspiration for the game: Splatoon 2‘s final Splatfest event, Chaos vs. Order (yes, we know it wasn’t the final final one..!).

If you remember, of course, Chaos won over Order (poor Marina), and this development gave Inoue the inspiration for how to approach the third entry to the series:

“This title is set in the chaotic city of Splatsville, a densely populated area crowded with buildings from various eras. We decided on chaos as the theme for this title because Team Chaos won the “Chaos vs. Order” Splatfest, the final online battle event of Splatoon 2.”

Inoue went on to explain that the team has no idea what the outcome of Splatoon 2’s final Splatfest event would be, and even went so far as to state that they began imagining how the game might look if ‘Order’ wound up winning. Personally, we’re not so sure it would have turned out so great!

While it’s great to hear the full confirmation from Inoue himself, the chaotic direction of Splatoon 3 was nevertheless heavily hinted at when the game was initially revealed back in February:

“Here we see Splatsville, the newly discovered “city of chaos.” It has a dated feel yet seems densely populated. Research indicates that Splatsville’s development has accelerated rapidly since the Final Splatfest a year and a half ago, even though it’s located far from Inkopolis.”

In case you missed it, make sure to check out our full review of Splatoon 3; we awarded the game a 9/10, calling it the “pinnacle of shooters on Switch” but highlighting the lack of a much-needed “big new feature”.

Are you excited to check out Splatoon 3 later this week? Ink up and let us know in the comments!