Splatoon has been Nintendo’s most successful original franchise of the past 10 years. It’s a series that came out of necessity as the rise of competitive shooters left the company with a hole in its gaming portfolio. Nintendo needed to fill it, but the big question was: How would the developers create a family-friendly shooter and make it feel unique to its brand?
The answer lay in sea life and paintball. More specifically, Nintendo focused on cephalopods, which happen to create their own ink, and the team sport that uses balls of paint for ammo. The big difference in Splatoon is that instead of winning a match by fragging opponents, the players’ goal is to cover the most territory with their team’s colours.