The story of how this Splatoon-like cartoon shooter for Nintendo was doomed by leaks is wild

Ties were cut after a leaker wasn’t identified

Liam Robertson has done some magnificent work in terms of the preservation of canceled projects, and this latest story is no exception.

Remember High Voltage Software? The company that rose to prominence as more than a port studio with The Conduit series and later, the canceled project The Grinder? Well they could have had a completely different future if this cartoon shooter actually came out. Following their rise to prominence as a third-party Nintendo studio, the Big N reportedly joined hands with the company and initiated a deal involving a robotic shooter with water guns that would have basically ended up a lot like Splatoon.

Using the 2005 film Robots for inspiration tons of concept art was furnished and the entire production was in full swing except for one major snag — someone at the company leaked the project and details regarding its relationship with Nintendo. They were allegedly given an ultimatum of sorts — find the leaker or they’ll cut ties. According to the report High Voltage couldn’t acquiesce, and the concept was canned after one month of progress. Following the fallout, low sales for The Conduit 2 didn’t help their future with Nintendo.

So what’s changed, and why is more of this information coming to light all these years later? Well, Liam Robertson, under the Did You Know Gaming banner, got in touch with the person claiming to be the source of the leak all these years later to close up this chapter for good. The leaker apparently did it due to a disagreement with the working conditions at High Voltage, much to the chagrin of future employees, some of which who saw the act something that doomed the studio as a whole top to bottom for years to come.