Foamstars is an upcoming online shooting game by Square Enix which many people have called a copy of Splatoon. Apparently, Square Enix doesn’t like it when we all compare their foam shooter to Nintendo’s famous squid shooter.
Announced last summer, Foamstars is a PlayStation 5 exclusive online shooter that pits two teams of four against each other as they shoot foam at each other until one character is completely stuck and removed from the stage. As soon as it was revealed, it was compared to Splatoon, even considered a copy of the Nintendo game. Even though Splatoon uses ink and Foamstars uses foam, the idea of an online shooter with bullets as colorful materials and saved on the map is clearly a common point that cannot be ignored. But after months of being swamped by comparisons, Square Enix seems to have moved past that.
In a recent interview, Foamstars producer Kosuke Okatani was asked if he was bothered by people comparing the two games. In response, Okatani laughed: “First of all yes!”
Okatani said: “There have been a lot of comparisons on the internet. However, we also saw on social media that people who actually played it claimed it was a completely different game.”
The producer further explained that he believes that “mechanism to save everything you shoot to stay on the stage” is very unique. Okatani also said it would be an honor if Foamstars and Splatoon fans came up with a unique nickname for this quirky genre, such as “online party shooter” as Square Enix has suggested. .
Also in the interview, Okatani admitted that the biggest risk for Foamstars is not being compared to Splatoon, but that a PvP game needs many players at the same time to be successful. And that’s not easy to do in an era where Fortnite, Warzone, and other free-to-play shooters are topping the charts. To help Foamstars succeed, Square Enix is taking a Rocket League or Fall Guys approach and launching it on PS Plus as a free game for one month.
Square Enix’s executive director of publishing strategy Rich Briggs said that he hopes PS Plus will help the game quickly build a community and player base.
“That’s a big part of how we’re able to build Foamstars community right from the start – ensuring that PS Plus subscribers have access to the game for free for a whole month and that you can keep it going for a long time,”Briggs said. “When we get players to experience it for themselves, they will become our community in the long run. Having a really big launch feels like an easy win.”
With loads of interest and support from PS Plus, Foamstars will probably have a good start. The question is: Will people actually keep playing the game after it launches on PS5 via PS Plus on February 6? That remains to be seen.
