Summary
- Last year, Nintendo playtested an online social game with mechanics that were similar to Minecraft.
- We’ve heard nothing about the instantly-leaked game since then, but it seems to have popped up in a patent.
- That patent suggests that two of the Splatoon directors are involved in its development.
Nintendo‘s mysterious online social game that everyone compared to Minecraft when it got leaked last year seems to come from some former Splatoon directors, if a new patent is to be believed.
Although Nintendo has always had a reputation for being fairly secretive about what it’s working on, it’s been especially quiet over the last few years. Lord knows we learned that in the long wait for the Nintendo Switch 2 to finally be unveiled, but that’s also been clear in a few other areas too. Case in point, the strange social game it was playtesting last year.
Related
Nintendo Switch 2, Please Give Us Tomodachi Life Remastered
Nintendo! Bring back this 3DS classic and my life is yours.
Back in October, Nintendo sent out invites for a mysterious playtest of an unannounced game which, despite being NDA’d and kept under a veil of secrecy, was almost instantly leaked for the whole world to see. The footage showed an unfinished game that was reminiscent of Minecraft thanks to its building mechanics and social elements, and it all looked like a pretty big step for the online-avoidant Nintendo.
Nintendo’s Online Social Game Appears In A New Patent
Despite the social game leaking, we still don’t know all that much about it, as Nintendo has remained characteristically quiet about its future after the playtest. While that officially remains the case, some more details on it might have just been uncovered thanks to a new patent that was filed by Nintendo.
As spotted by Redditor astrogamer on the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, a Nintendo patent has been discovered that relates to building in a sandbox game, specifically tied to restricting the actions of players in your own personal space. Considering how building was the key mechanic of the online playtest game, it’s very likely related to that.
It’s already interesting enough to see a mechanic tied to the game pop up, but the patent also lists some interesting figures involved with the game, including the first Splatoon’s directors, Yusuke Amano and Tsubasa Sakaguchi. Ring Fit Adventure programmers Masaki Wada and Shinya Yano are also shown on the patent.
If your immediate reaction to this news was worry for the future of Splatoon, it’s worth remembering that it’s had other directors as the series has gone on.
That doesn’t tell us too much about the social game itself, but if a patent is being filed for it then it’s likely going to make it as a proper release. The fact that it comes from the minds behind Splatoon is a very good sign too, as we’ve already seen how successful and innovative those games were.
Next
Ezio Should Be The Last Bot Added To Astro Bot
Astro Bot has kept adding post launch levels and bots, but now feels a good time to call time on the game and move on.