As Splatoon 3 says goodbye to regular updates, fans think they've already uncovered the future of the Nintendo series

Splatoon 3's biggest event is over, and so are the colorful third-person shooter's regular updates. However, squid kids everywhere are now fully focused on the series' future, which they think they've already worked out.

Over the weekend, Splatoon 3's Grand Festival took place - its most important Splatfest, which is essentially a popularity contest in which players fight for their chosen teams by winning points in Turf War battles. While the third game is by no means shutting down for good, this event still marks the end of an era for the game.

"After two INK-credible years of Splatoon 3, regular updates will come to a close," the developer writes on Twitter. "Don't worry! Splatoween, Frosty Fest, Spring Fest, and Summer Nights will continue with some returning themes! Updates for weapon adjustments will be released as needed. Big Run, Eggstra Work, and Monthly Challenges will continue for the time being."

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The Grand Festival wasn't just significant for this reason, though, because fans are currently hard at work predicting the plot of Splatoon 4 based on its results. At the time of writing, Nintendo hasn't even confirmed that Splatoon 4 exists, but that's not stopping anyone. For context, the Grand Festival had players fight to answer whether the past, present, or future was "most important" to them, and in the end, Team Past – led by Splatoon 1's Squid Sister idols, Callie and Marie – won, leading many to believe the next hypothetical shooter's story could be focused on the past in some capacity. 

One of the prevailing theories is that the plot could be focused on the Great Turf War – a war between the Inklings and Octarians that took place around a century before the events of the first game. "Happy Past won 'cause this could mean we get a game inspired by the Great Turf War," one fan writes. 

On the other hand, some (jokingly or not) have suggested that the past in question might not be quite so distant. "And this is how we'll be getting a Splatoon 1 port for Switch 2," one player tweets.

It might sound like a stretch, but both Splatoon 1 and 2's Final Fests influenced their successors in this way. Splatoon 1's had squids and octos choose between idols Callie and Marie, and the winner – Marie – accompanied players through the sequel's story mode. Meanwhile, Splatoon 2's Chaos vs Order Splatfest influenced Splatoon 3's setting, with the main new location – Splatsville – being the "city of chaos" (no prizes for guessing which team won in the sequel). 

For now, the fourth game is all speculation, and it may or may not happen, but it'll definitely be interesting to see if any theories turn out to be true. 

For more games like Splatoon, be sure to check out our roundup of the best shooter games.