Rumors and leaks

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There have been several rumors and leaks regarding Splatoon content - some were created by the community, while others were sparked by the developers themselves.

Changed or scrapped

A list of rumors and leaks that were either changed before being implemented in-game, or ultimately never released.

OatmealDome leak on Reddit

In August 2017, Reddit user OatmealDome made two posts[1][2] with datamined information from Splatoon 2 which had not been officially revealed at the time. Many upcoming Splatoon 2 weapons and gear had been found in the game's files.[3]

There were several instances of the final in-game information being different from the datamined values, usually special gauge size. This was due to Nintendo continuing to make changes to weapon sets before releasing them.

Unfinished ranked modes

An unfinished ranked mode code-named "Rocket", with a unique object (vRocket) and weapon (vRocketNozzle). Hacking a work-in-progress version into the game shows a mode where a rocket object that is launched by shooting ink at it and an ink pump weapon that can be used to continue advancing once control of the rocket is gained.[4] The rocket may have been reworked into the Ultra Signal for Tricolor Turf War battles in Splatoon 3.

Another unfinished Ranked mode, code-named "Eight-Ball", can be accessed with hacks. It involves the player shooting a large ball reminiscent of the 8-ball to roll it towards the opposing team's goal.[5] [6]

Miscellaneous

  • A new scrapped special weapon codenamed "Bazooka." This is not the Inkzooka, which is codenamed "SuperShot."
  • The original Octoling Armor and Octoling Boots to accompany the Octoleet Goggles. Data and models for both of them exist in the game's files but were ultimately never released.
  • The Tentacles Helmet was shown in the 8 March 2018 Nintendo Direct but did not see a release.

Confirmed

This is a list of rumors or leaks that have been confirmed to be true.

Splatoon

Prima Strategy Guide "Coming Soon" section

Prima's guide showing then-upcoming maps and weapons.

The Prima Strategy Guide for Splatoon included a "Coming Soon" section which showed off upcoming weapons and stages.[7]

There are also two images of Tower Control.

Datamine game update leak

@NWPlayer123 datamined Splatoon and leaked information about upcoming weapons, stages, and modes.[8] Also, some pictures and explanations were shown about the new Ranked modes, Tower Control and Rainmaker.

The leaker also uploaded a video of the Sploosh-o-matic, one of the leaked unreleased weapons, after using live memory edits to add it in.[9]

The following content was revealed due to this datamine:

Weapons
Stages
Modes
  • Rainmaker's description and gameplay mechanics.

Version 2.0.0 datamining

After the release of version 2.0.0 of Splatoon, NWPlayer123 and Guy Perfect once again dug into the data and found more information regarding unreleased content, including weapons, stages, gear, character models and game modes.

Sloshing Machine datamining

In a similar vein to the version 2.0.0 datamining, NWPlayer123 posted photos and video of a new slosher variety, the Sloshing Machine, as well as other minor additions in version 2.2.0.

Squid Sisters amiibo

Squid Sisters' amiibo promo.

A Twitter post by @NWPlayer123 on 30 January 2016 showed the results of continued data mining as new amiibo coming for Splatoon, called "AmiiboIdolA" and "AmiiboIdolB" in the game's files. It was believed they could be Squid Sisters amiibo, hence the names.[10] These files were added in the version 2.4.0 update and speculation on them, as well as some "SCLive" strings that corresponded to the amiibo entries, date as far back as 17 December 2015.[11]

On 30 April 2016, it was announced that Squid Sisters' amiibo would be released on 7 July 2016.[12]

Splatoon 2

Playable Octolings

Playable girl and boy Octolings that were released with the Octo Expansion. Early models of them can be found as early as the Splatoon 2 Global Testfire, where the Octoling boys have a hairstyle close to the final "Punk" one, while the girl model uses the enemy Octoling hair.

New Rank Battle mode

A new Ranked mode, Clam Blitz, released on 13 December 2017.

Stages

Two new Salmon Run stages codenamed "Shakehouse" and "Threepoints" respectively.

Kelp Dome, Blackbelly Skatepark, and Ancho-V Games have returned from Splatoon.

Six new stages codenamed "Pillar", "Kawa" (Japanese for 'river'), "Line", "Tunnel", "Nakasu", and "Mirror" respectively.

Weapons

Four new main weapons [13] (one returning), one new sub weapon, one new special weapon and one rare weapon:

Datamined loadouts:

  • Explosher: Sprinkler and Bubble Blower.
  • Custom Explosher: Autobomb and Baller. Changed to Point Sensor.
  • Ballpoint Splatling: Toxic Mist and Inkjet.
  • Ballpoint Splatling Nouveau: Squid Beakon and Splashdown. Changed to Ink Storm.
  • Bloblobber: Splash Wall and Ink Storm.
  • Bloblobber Deco: Fizzy Bomb and Suction-Bomb Launcher. Changed to Sprinkler.
  • Nautilus 47: Point Sensor and Baller.
  • Nautilus 79: Splat Bomb and Ink Armor. Changed to Suction Bomb and Inkjet.

15 March 2018 update

On 15 March 2018, LeanYoshi, who performed the data mining for weapon stats, updated the weapon loadouts for all previously leaked weapons[14]:

Weapon Sub Special Points
Custom Range Blaster 180p
Clash Blaster Neo 180p
Custom Dualie Squelchers 180p
Custom Hydra Splatling 180p
Tri-Slosher Nouveau 180p
Carbon Roller Deco 170p
H-3 Nozzlenose D 190p
Sorella Brella 180p
New Squiffer 180p
Zink Mini Splatling 200p
Foil Squeezer 180p
Bamboozler 14 Mk II 160p
Rapid Blaster Pro Deco 180p
Neo Splash-o-matic 200p
Over the following weeks, LeanYoshi updated the database with the two following weapons:
Undercover Sorella Brella 180p
Tenta Sorella Brella
(Collaboration with Inkline Inkline)
180p

24 April 2018 update

On 24 April 2018, LeanYoshi updated the data with a few more changes, as well as updating the database with the version 3.0.0 changes:[15]

Weapon Change
Value From To
Carbon Roller Deco Sub weapon
Special weapon
Special points 170 190
Custom Dualie Squelchers Special weapon
Special points 180 190
Tenta Sorella Brella Special weapon
Updates to released content
Blaster
Hero Blaster Replica
Special points 170 190
Heavy Splatling
Hero Splatling Replica
Special points 180 200
Slosher Deco Special points 200 220
Luna Blaster Neo Special points 180 170
Zink Mini Splatling Special points 200 190
Clash Blaster Neo Special points 180 170

12 July 2018 update

On 12 July 2018, LeanYoshi updated the data for the Light Tetra Dualies from the version 3.2.0 update which changed its special from Splat-Bomb Launcher to Autobomb Launcher.[16]

WemI0 3.0.0 datamine

On 26 April 2018, Twitter user WemI0 performed a datamine of version 3.0.0 in Splatoon 2 and found several models for gear, weapons, and more. These are the confirmed pieces of content: [17]

Salmon Run gear

amiibo and promotional gear

  • Pearl and Marina's outfits from the Octo Expansion (via their amiibo).
  • A clothing item based on the Splatoon 2 World Championship held at E3 2018.
  • Agent 8's armor from the Octo Expansion.

Splatoon 3

Announcement/Existence

The Twitter-based leaker SamusHunter posted about Splatoon 3's existence in a tweet over a month before its announcement.

Return of Flounder Heights in Splatoon 3

For a split second in the "Return of the Mammalians" trailer for Splatoon 3, an image depicting a water tank found in Flounder Heights can be seen in a black-and-white filter, around 1:10-1:11. It appears to be taken from the stage thumbnail for Splatoon.[18] This leak has been confirmed as a preview of the revised Flounder Heights alongside the previously unnamed Um'ami Ruins was seen in the "post-launch stages" portion of the Splatoon 3 Direct, and the stage would later be added to the game alongside Brinewater Springs in Chill Season 2022.

Songs

The Splatoon 3 Splatfest World Premiere was heavily datamined and many songs were discovered in the files.

Additionally, a dataminer found some Deep Cut songs from the demo, including the respective solos from the idols:

After the release of Drizzle Season 2023, the following songs for Shiver vs. Frye vs. Big Man were datamined before they were available in-game:

The special songs made for each of the seasonal Splatfest events were datamined before being made available in-game. The specific updates in which the data was added are listed below, with the latter three being released over a month before said Splatfests were held.

Likely because of these datamines, much of the data for Grand Festival was only added to the game the day before said Splatfest was held.

REEF-LUX 450

A future Stringer weapon. Compared to the Tri-Stringer it is lighter, shorter-ranged, and does not have explosive fully-charged shots. It comes with the Curling Bomb and Tenta Missiles. This was found by dataminers locating Sheldon's description of the weapon in the game files. Additionally, textured and animated models of the weapon have been found in the Splatoon 3: Splatfest World Premiere files. It was first seen in early Salmon Run Next Wave gameplay where some people got to play Splatoon 3 for a few hours. [21]

Sheldon's description

The REEF-LUX 450 is a lighter version

of the Tri-Stringer that's a bit more
user-friendly for folks who are new
to stringer-type weapons.

Like most lightweight weapons, it
doesn't pack the biggest punch or
range—no exploding charged shots
here—but it does offer the
ability to store a charge

This set comes with Curling Bombs
to help you close the gap into enemy
turf quickly, letting you take full
advantage of the nimble nature of
your main weapon.

And when you want to make a big
impact in a hurry, don't forget about
your Tenta Missiles. You can make it
rain missiles on opponents out of
range of the REEF-LUX.

This is a highly mobile loadout that
lets you fight with flexibility and still
take down powerhouse opponents.
I hope you give it a try!

Grizzco Stringer

The model and data for a Grizzco brand stringer weapon was datamined from the files. The weapon fires 9 shots in an erratic pattern and a wide spread, even if charged fully.[20] According to a dataminer, it was revealed to be first available on 1 October 2022 16:00 UTC during a wildcard rotation.

Future gear

Some players were able to hack future gear into their games. The gear included:

Players were able to order this gear before, but after 10 November 2022 players would get disconnected from the server if they attempted to order them. Additionally, anyone with this gear would have them deleted from their online play data in the next update before their full release.

Return of Bluefin Depot

With the release of version 5.0.1 of Splatoon 3, two new adjective titles related to future stages were added to the files, one of which is for Bluefin Depot from the original Splatoon game, and the other for a brand new stage. This was confirmed with the Chill Season 2023 trailer; the new stage was Robo ROM-en.

Grizzco Roller

According to the official France Splatoon Twitter account, the newest Grizzco weapon, originally planned to be revealed during the Big Big Run of Sizzle Season 2024[21], is the Grizzco Roller.[22]

Busted

This is a list of rumors and leaks that have been confirmed false.

Splatoon

Cheat code

Arrows found in Inkopolis Plaza on top of Booyah Base.

Some days after the game's launch, players noticed that some Sunken Scrolls, as well as signs on Inkopolis Plaza, contain what appears to be arrows pointing up, down, left or right.[23]

On the 9 June 2015, the official Splatoon Facebook page made a joke post referencing how some Facebook users accidentally type Google search queries on their Facebook profiles.[24] This joke, however, sparked curiosity among fans, as the "search" was for "Squid Jump cheats". Naturally, Nintendo staff themselves would not be searching for cheat codes on a game made by their company, meaning the post was placed there on purpose, likely to hint players about the existence of a code hidden inside the game.

On top of this, the official Splatoon Tumblr account made a post about how players can press ZR on the Plaza to look around, and how this serves the additional purpose of getting information on Miiverse posts. It also mentioned that it "may also have another use", which remains unknown to this day. [25]

As of yet, no code has been found, and it is unknown if there is any relation between the arrows, the rumored code, and the rumored extra function of ZR, or if any secret exists, to begin with. Players have since been attempting to figure something out by input the arrow's directions during different parts of the game, mostly the Squid Jump minigame, but without luck.[26]

However, The Art of Splatoon definitely shows that it simply is a stylized spelling of "ブイヤベース" (Booyah Base) in Inkling.

Multiple fake Super Mario Sunshine DLC leaks

The supposedly leaked image.

Around June 2015, there was a "leak" on the internet that Super Mario Sunshine amiibo DLC was coming to Splatoon. Only a single image existed regarding this supposed leak. It has since been proven fake, with the author of the leak releasing the images they used to create it.[27]

Later that year, in July, another Super Mario Sunshine amiibo DLC rumor with several images was found. These images supposedly depicted new Super Mario Sunshine-related gear and Octo Valley missions. The supposed announcement date passed, and nothing like it was added, confirming it as false.

Splatoon 2

Flounder Heights returning

In late 2017, speculation emerged about the possible return of Flounder Heights. This speculation was based on a placeholder entry that had a misspelling of the stage's Canadian French name.[28]

Splatoon 3

SamusHunter leaks

The supposedly leaked image

The controversial[29] Twitter leaker SamusHunter submitted an E3 2021 - What to expect graphic, with one of the pictures being for a "2021 Splatoon 3 World Inkling Invitational". None of these events were seen in the E3 2021 Direct and outdated branding was used for the images.

Shiver's gender

When Shiver was first revealed in the Splatoon 3 Direct, neither the presentation nor most promotional material alluded to Shiver's gender, which resulted in speculation among fans about Shiver's gender, as well as the possibility of her being non-binary or ambiguously gendered.

The Japanese version of the Splatoon 3 Direct did not have Shiver use any common first-person pronouns that traditionally connote gender (such as atashi or boku). In the Direct, Shiver used the pronouns uchi[30] (an informal pronoun usually used by younger women, especially in Kansai dialects) and onore[31] (an archaic pronoun used poetically meaning "oneself" or "yourself"). In the game, onore was used only on one occasion, in which Shiver talks about a general "oneself", rather than using the pronoun for herself. These pronouns may be portraying Shiver's Kansai dialect through the use of yakuwarigo ("role language").

Most official social media posts referring to Shiver also made no mention of her gender, except for one Nintendo Portugal message that used pela, implying Shiver to be female.[32] In contrast, Shiver's bandmates Frye and Big Man were referred to with terms connoting female and male grammatical gender, respectively, immediately upon their reveal.

Nintendo of America representatives soon clarified Shiver's gender after being asked, confirming her to be female and referred to using the pronouns "she" and "her" in the game.[33][34][35]

The Reef returning in Splatoon 3

The Reef's filename was found in the Splatoon 3 Splatfest World Premiere's files, but the reference was removed from the full game in version 2.1.1.[36]

References

  1. Reddit First post by OatmealDome
  2. Reddit Second post by OatmealDome
  3. GitHub Splatoon 2 Data
  4. Archived OatmealDome demonstration video
  5. Twitter Eight Ball in action
  6. YouTube Splatoon 2 Beta Content - "Eight-Ball" Gamemode
  7. YouTube CONFIRMED: Splatoon DLC NEW MAPS, WEAPONS, GAME MODES! - Official Prima Game Guide by Everything Amiibo
  8. NWPlayer123's Pastebin
  9. Twitter Sploosh-o-matic in action
  10. Nintendo Everything – Rumor: New amiibo references spotted within Splatoon's files, possibly Squid Sisters
  11. Reddit 2.4.0 Changelist by u/LeanYosh
  12. Twitter @SplatoonJP on Twitter
  13. Twitter LeanYoshi's Tweets: [1], [2]
  14. Reddit Third post by OatmealDome
  15. Twitter Tweets by LeanYoshi: [3], [4], [5]
  16. Twitter Light Tetra Dualies Update
  17. Tweets by WemI0: Gear: [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12] Weapons: [13], [14], [15],[16], [17], [18], [19] Map: [20]
  18. Twitter apostleoforder's thread on Twitter
  19. Twitter DiamCreeper23 on Twitter
  20. YouTube Splatoon 3 Grizzco Stringer and other Grizzco weapons showcase
  21. Twitter @SplatoonJP on Twitter
  22. Twitter @Splatoon_FRA on Twitter
  23. Twitter @heyheymasa on Twitter
  24. Facebook The official Splatoon Facebook page's "Squid Jump cheats" post
  25. Squid Research Lab Live from Squid Research Lab — Pressing the ZR Button while in the plaza will...
  26. Reddit Reddit post with players' attempts to use the code in various places of the game
  27. Squidboards thread about the Super Mario Sunshine leak's reveal
  28. Twitter OatmealDome's explanation
  29. Reddit Flareblitz12's SamusHunter explanation
  30. YouTube Splatoon 3 Direct (JP) "ウチが背中押したるさかい、おきばりやす~!"
  31. YouTube Splatoon 3 Direct (JP) "おのれの魂をコブシに宿し、天につき出すその姿…"
  32. Twitter Nintendo Portugal on Twitter "Os Deep Cut, compostos pela Shiver, a Frye e o Big Man". Italics added for emphasis.
  33. The Verge query to NoA SVP Nate Bihldorff
  34. YouTube GameXplain hands-on preview video
  35. YouTube GameXplain video on new details revealed in-game
  36. Twitter @OatmealDome on Twitter.