Splatoon isn't quite the same though. This quirky, ink-based squid-shooter wasn't pushed as an esports title for its release on the Wii U, and despite being on the Wii U, it gradually garnered a following.

Organisers of Splatoon events faced some of the most significant logistical challenges of any esport. In an AMA a year ago, members of several teams and organisers discussed the competitive scene. The tournament organiser for the Booyah Battle Series, "BestTeaMaker," described the amount of equipment needed to host just a single competitive match:

"While there's a whole suite of tools for players to play competitive with in place, there isn't much from a spectator's point. LAN events are also very hard and expensive to do due to the number of capture devices and ethernet connections needed".

Any match in the past needed capture devices and ethernet connections to hook up ten Wii U's, leaving an observer only 10 player point-of-view cameras to work with for play-by-play. That's certainly far from ideal, but tournament organisers and teams pushed through to make events happen.

The passion for Splatoon is still alive, though muted. Streamers still play online, and players gather in a Discord server called "The Inkademy" to discuss builds and share strategies. One of the most interesting niches I found was a content creator who goes by "Silver," who delves into really in-depth game theory topics using Splatoon. This one on whether low accuracy is a boon is really something else: