Nintendo announced today that Splat Zones, a ranked battle mode, would unlock June 1 at 7 PM PT, along with a new map and weapon.

Loading

Back in March, Nintendo announced its plans for Ranked multiplayer in Splatoon , citing that the mode would unlock once enough players reached level 10. In Splat Zones, players battle over control of a single piece of turf on the map for a set amount of time. A team that holds the zone and burns down the control timer to zero is declared the winner.Starting tonight players will be able to unlock the N-ZAP85, a tribute to the light gun peripheral called the Zapper for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo describes the N-ZAP85 as a "rapid-fire shooter with some impressive ink efficiency." It comes with a Splat Bombs and an Echo-locator special weapon.The free map, called Port Mackerel, is set on a dock and it will unlock tonight at the same time. Splatoon IGN's Splatoon review for our verdict on Nintendo's action shooter.

Jose Otero is an Editor at IGN and host of Nintendo Voice Chat . You can follow him on Twitter