Nintendo has been talking about Splatoon‘s big August update since before the game’s May 29 launch. Today, they finally detailed exactly what’ll be included in the update (see below) and when it’ll be available (August 5).
Most importantly, the update will include two brand new matchmaking modes: Squad Battle and Private Battle. In Squad Battle, players can join up with their friends in all of Splatoon’s Ranked Battle modes. These two-to-four player Squads will then be randomly matched against other Squads. Private Battle is, as the name implies, a private battle between friends. Two-to-eight players can join up to battle it out on any map, in any game mode, and with any combination of players (1v1, 4v4, 4v1, 3v2, etc).
The August update will also add two new weapon types to the game for those looking for a fresh style of play. The Slosher is a grenade launcher-like weapon that will allow players to “hurl ink straight ahead at an impressive range” with a bucket. If you’d rather go “Full Arnold,” the Gatling-like Splatling can produce short blasts of “all-powerful ink” when its fully charged.
Finally, Nintendo will add more than 40 pieces of Gear to the shops in Arowana Mall and raise the level cap in both Regular Battle and Ranked Battle. Players can now reach Level 50 (raised from Level 20) in Regular Battle and S or S+ (both higher than A+) in Ranked Battle.
In case you missed it, Nintendo is still adding content to Splatoon ahead of the August update. This weekend saw the release of the Camp Triggerfish map and a pair of new weapons (E-Liter 3K Scope and Neo Splash-O-Matic). Not only that, but additional maps, weapons, and at least one new game mode (Rainmaker Ranked Battle) will be added to the game throughout the Fall.
