Splatoon Won't Have Voice Chat, Not Ever.

So! Who here remembers Splatoon?

I don’t think anyone could be offended if you admitted you forgot: while this quirky paint-based third-person shooter starring squids certainly turned a few heads at last year’s E3 Digital Press Conference, and while it’s slated to come out later next month, Nintendo hasn’t had much to say about the game beyond its initial announcement. Thus, it slipped in the back of our memories, to be replaced by Bloodborne and… whatever other games came out since, I’m having a hard time remembering.

Regardless! Splatoon recently got the cover page for this month’s Edge Magazine, and in it, we get an interview with co-director Yusuke Amano, who had an interesting revelation for us about how the game is to be played… here, I’ll just pull it directly from the interview, because plagiarism is okay if you put it in a text box.

“Splatoon has no voice chat now, and it never will. You can blame the infamous toxicity of online players for that. “This is coming from personal experience,” Amano says. “When I played online games, I didn’t like the negativity I got and people telling me, ‘You’re crap. Go away.’ So we wanted to focus on the positive aspects of online gaming.”

Amano admits this approach means missing out on a feature that makes online play stand out for many players. “I don’t want you to misunderstand—I’m not denying having chat in an online game does contribute to fun. But, as we’ve said, we want to grab new people.”

So, as the quote—and the title of the article—says, it seems that Splatoon will be completely silent, with no voice chat at all. Which… well, it would be surprising, if it was literally anyone but Nintendo. Say what you will about how necessary communication is in a team-based game and how removing the option completely is heavy-handed of Nintendo, but let’s face it, this fits their MO perfectly. This is the same company that won’t even let you play custom Mii Fighters over Super Smash Brothers in case you give it an unnatural face.

But regardless, it’s a disappointment... probably would be more of one if this was a more hardcore title that would be a draw for the type of people who need voice communication, but still, disappointment. Not stopping you from using Vent or Skype or anything else, but still.