According to a notable gaming insider, Nintendo has reportedly started development on the next Splatoon game, revealing its codename in the process. The most recent entry in the Splatoon franchise is Splatoon 3, which first launched two years ago. Like its predecessors, the game is a third-person shooter with an emphasis on painting the opponent's turf through the use of cartoony weapons. The third game has been kept fresh with seasonal updates, including events like Splatfest to keep players engaged. However, it appears that Splatoon 3's time in the sun is coming to a close soon.

Following the release of update 8.0.0, dataminers found evidence that Splatoon 3 could be preparing for the end of an era. A new Splatfest type was added in the latest update, which contained a number of different features and visual effects that suggested that the next Splatfest will be the last one. Fans began speculating that Nintendo is sticking to its promise of two years of post-launch support for Splatoon 3 and that the final Splatfest might take place soon, as Nintendo is developing a new game for the Switch successor. These claims seem to be supported by a recent leak from Midori, a notable gaming insider who has had an incredibly accurate track record regarding future Sega and Nintendo titles.

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On Midori's Twitter account, she posted that a new game project with the codename of "Spiral" is in development at Nintendo. According to her research and the data that she received over the past month, she theorizes that this codename is being used for the game that will likely be the next entry in the Splatoon franchise.

Splatoon 4 Is Possibly Codenamed "Spiral"

Midori has leaked a number of different Nintendo codenames in the past few weeks, claiming they are in-development Nintendo projects for franchises like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Based on her latest claim about the next Splatoon game, it's very likely the game is in early pre-production and that the codename is only an indication it is in development, rather than a hint about what kind of themes the game will revolve around.

Considering past Splatoon games were influenced by their predecessor's final Splatfests, it's likely that the fourth game will similarly be impacted by Splatoon 3's final one too. For reference, Splatoon 2 put Marie as the central supporting character for the game's Story Mode after she won her final Splatfest in the first game, while Splatoon 3's entire theme revolved around Chaos, after that option won at Splatoon 2's final splatfest. For now, fans will need to wait until Nintendo reveals more official information.

Splatoon

The Splatoon series is a highly colorful and vibrant third-person shooter experience exclusive to Nintendo. The games feature anthropomorphic marine creatures who battle for control of various maps via paint. Splatoon offers both multiplayer and single-player modes with the former being where the bulk of the action comes from.