Splatoon 2 producer on the game’s second year, final Splatfest, future, more

The True Warrior Enters the Arena with All his Powers at the Ready

How’s the rank distribution looking?

Nogami: People have been playing for a long time now, so those at C rank have been decreasing while those above that have been steadily increasing.

Have even the X ranks been increasing?

Nogami: There is a reset at the beginning of each month, so there is always an increase in the second half of the month that drops in the first half, but generally I think we can say there is a slight increase. Still, I think the ratio for that rank is still only something like 1 in 20 people.

Has there been any change in the modes people prefer?

Nogami: There hasn’t been much change and the numbers have remained pretty steady. But since we have opened up more opportunities for players to play Salmon Run that mode has seen an increase.

You’ve also started the monthly promotional League Battles. What was the idea behind those?

Nogami: Right from the start there have been a fixed and steady number of users who play predominantly in League Battles. Some of those players assemble a team in order to just have fun, but I think for some reaching the competition preliminaries is also a big goal. We wanted to give those players more opportunities to reach that target.

I think those guys also like taking screenshots of the winning screen for cred.

Nogami: We added some special photo opportunities that aren’t available anywhere else. There’s a moment when the name of the player flashes up on the screen before it moves on to stats, so most photos are taken then. I think those that aim for the top always choose a name they would like to see displayed on that screen… (laughs)

Going back to events, Splatoon partnered up with NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) for special eSports events.

Nogami: With the history of sports that they have, I think they know how to get the best out of these types of events. It was a very different feel to the usual Splatfest.

I also want to talk about the World Championships at E3. GG Boyz were crowned winners for the second year in a row, but I feel like the foreign teams are getting stronger.

Nogami: America and Europe definitely have some strong teams. When GG were asked about the competition, they said it was really tough and some of the matches really were a close call. They won the last match 4-2 but there were a lot of times where it went down to the wire.

What did you think of the atmosphere this time around?

Nogami: Last year was great but I think this time was just as good. The support for the American teams was huge, so GG Boyz definitely had that feeling of being the away team. American sports fans have a culture of strong sporting rivalries, so the fans get really worked up, which helps their team and can also intimidate other teams.

In Japan you also announced The 5th Splatoon Koshien.

Nogami: Since we made it so that more people could enter, the numbers are one and a half times what they were. Libalent Calamari won the NPB tournament league and Hyper Beam were able to defeat GG Boyz, so it’s possible we might see even more heroes breaking through. Obviously even now those teams are still training really hard, but I think I’d also like to think new players are trying just as hard to break onto the scene.

With more people competing, the level of the tournament can only go up.

Nogami: I think there are many different players that wanna be the very best that no one ever was. They come along with their friends and family and the whole thing becomes a way for them to create sweet, sweet memories. I’ve always thought games go hand in hand with communication, so if this game can improve opportunities for discourse between families and friends, then I’m all for it. Obviously I still want those competing to be in it to win it, but all those people coming together is also great to see.

The day before the finals of the 4th Koshien there was a live Off-the-Hook concert. How did you feel watching that?

Nogami: At the 2018 Haika Live we had two different mixed sets, so even though the colors were of Off the Hook, it was actually a collaboration with the Squid Sisters and all four of them made an appearance at the end. Since this time the Off the Hook band were performing alone, the whole events was done out in their colors. Whereas the Squid Sisters are more like pop idols, Off the Hook have more artistic clout, so the stage was arrange din line with that.

So it’s less a case of waving glow sticks about and more just losing yourself to the rhythm?

Nogami: Obviously it’s also fine if you want to put your hands in the air like you just don’t care, but we wanted the performance to have a sense of trendiness. Pearl might seem like a little squirt who is always boasting, but when she hits the stage there is something stoic about her. I think people seeing her for the first time will be struck with how different she is. That other side to the characters is something we aren’t always able to see, so I think the concerts are really worthwhile.

Getting into the Festive Spirit

Since the first anniversary there have been a lot of big events, such as Splatoween and FrostyFest. Were these designed with a global audience in mind?

Nogami: These weren’t originally in the plan, but after the end of the anniversary Squid vs. Octopus Splatfest we changed our plan so that we were focusing more on these events. And when we then started thinking about ones that could run at the same time globally, we first thought of Halloween. It was nice to see so many players coming together for the event.

With the unique gear up for grabs too, it seemed like there was an effort to add more incentives for players to take part.

Nogami: We wanted to have certain items that were only available through participating in the fests. The New Year’s glasses available at Frosty Fest, for example, have a pretty limited time frame they can be worn and still be relevant… (laughs) So we wanted players to come for those exclusive items and wear them, even if just for that limited time.

And now we are nearing the final Splatfest. With the name of Splatocalypse and the teams of chaos and disorder, the themes seem a bit heavy this time around…

Nogami: It seems like a lot of people are like, “Wow, why so serious all of a sudden?” (laughs) We’ve always messed around a lot in this game, so we thought why not go all serious at the end.

Well, the one before was to decide whether or not to have pineapple in sweet and sour pork so… (laughs)

Nogami: That’s the true fest! (laughs) For a game that you really can play at the table top, that one is perfect.

And then from that to the grand scale of world order…

Nogami: Given it’s so different I was a little concerned about how it would be received, but we used the theme of ‘Love vs. Money’ before and the players were nice enough take it seriously. I think that these contests that buck the trends are especially interesting. Since this is the last fest, I thought it would be nice to feature something that deals with much larger scale issues.

I’ve heard people saying that since the final fest for the last game was a showdown between the Squid Sisters, this time it was bound to be between Off the Hook.

Nogami: I think that’s probably the obvious conclusion, but the development team don’t actually want those two to attack one another. Since the Squid Sisters have their own talents and abilities, even though they are a duo they are also kind of rivals, so we thought we would pit them against each other. Off the Hook, though, are much more of a unit and on good terms with one another, so we didn’t want to force them to fight.

Well, I’m convinced. The result of the final fest of the first game had an impact on the Hero Mode of the second game. Will that be the case this time?

Nogami: We’ll have to wait and see… (laughs)

I’m looking forward to finding out. You’ve also designed lots of items, including key visual items for each character.

Nogami: We have designed something for each character regardless of whether order or chaos reigns. You can find all of those designs on the official website.

And this time the event also spans a whole 72 hours.

Nogami: We were thinking about including some of the Shifty Station stages in the festival, but since we already have 23 stages we knew that handing over two hours to each would take two days… (laughs). So, as we wanted to include those Shifty Station ones too we extended the time to 72 hours.

And with version 5.0 those Shifty Stations are also becoming playable in private matches.

Nogami: These festivals will soon be out of our hands, but we also hope that players will continue to hold their own events. It has taken us a while, but we plan to have those ready by the end of July.

To go back to version 5.0, will that mark the end of additional content?

Nogami: Yes, it will. When the Splatfest comes to a close that will be it for new stages and weapons. But, as I said before, we will continue to patch the game as necessary for balancing, etc. The ranked matches will also continue.

You might not be able to answer this, but finally do you have any plans for DLC or a sequel going forward?

Nogami: We started making the second game pretty much as soon as the first one was released, and continued to develop Splatoon 2 while supporting and updating Splatoon 1. Since this time around we also released the Octo Expansion for 2, our time has been entirely taken up with supporting this game, which means we are still at a stage where we haven’t even thought about what comes next. I think that time to think will come once everything has been finished with 2. I’m not in a position to promise anything, but I want to say that I would like to give something back to all those players who have supported us, and if there is support for another game too, then I think I would like to continue. I might be repeating myself, but it’s not like we are turning off the servers, and we’ll continue to run those league matches and Koshien as long as the support and opportunities are there, so I’d like to think players can continue to enjoy playing this game into the future.

Translation by provided by Corks on behalf of Nintendo Everything

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