Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Nintendo unveils Splatoon 2's final new stage, coming in October

UPDATE: New map, music, weapons out next week.

UPDATE 28/9/18: Nintendo has confirmed that Splatoon 2's next big update, better known as version 4.1.0 to its friends, will arrive next week - bringing with it the recently unveiled new Skipper Pavilion stage, the Booyah Bomb special weapon, and more.

Elsewhere, Nintendo's 4.1.0 update introduces a number of additional sub and special weapons, all part of Splatoon 2's new Kensa Collection series, plus two new music tracks - Chopscrewey and Entropical - from newcomer band SashiMori. All this will be free to Splatoon 2 owners, and arrives on October 2nd in North America and a day later in Europe and Japan.

Cover image for YouTube videoSplatoon 2 - Ver. 4 Trailer (Nintendo Switch)

ORIGINAL STORY 27/9/18: Earlier this year, Nintendo announced that it would continue supporting its Splatoon 2 with new content until the end of 2018. With that deadline closing in, the company has now revealed the final new map to be added to superlative online shooter before support formally ends.

Splatoon 2's newest map is known as Skipper Pavilion and sets its labyrinthine walkways around an old temple, somewhere on the outskirts of Inkopolis. "Some Inklings believe that visiting this mystical place can help win Turf Wars", reads Nintendo's tweet on the matter, which also notes that the new map is due to arrive in October.

It's unclear, however, if Skipper Pavilion will be the final map to be added to Splatoon 2 of any kind. Some have pointed out that Nintendo's specific use of the word "new" might suggest that a few more maps from the original Splatoon are planned for introduction before year's end.

So far, eight classic maps have come to Splatoon 2 (the last being Ancho-V Games), still leaving Saltspray Rig, Urchin Underpass, Bluefin Depot, Flounder Heights, Hammerhead Bridge, Museum D'Alfosino, and Mahi-Mahi Resort as candidates for a revival.

In other Splatoon 2 news, Nintendo has revealed a particularly quirky new special weapon for the game, in the form of the Booyah Bomb. Once activated, this messy explosive can be charged up faster by, if I'm interpreting this right , hammering your Booyah! emote button. "Teammates can also get a small bonus to their special meter with 'Booyah!' rally cries of their own!", says Nintendo, "Unleash it once it's charged for a big inksplosion!"

There are no specific release dates for either new addition yet, but Nintendo will probably get around to announcing them once it's wrestled itself free of the Bowsette / phallic Toad fan art pouring through the windows.