Nintendo just ended nearly a year of radio silence on one of its most talked-about Switch 2 titles.
Splatoon Raiders, the first spin-off in the Splatoon series, is launching on July 23, 2026, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2. The news came through the Nintendo Today app today, alongside a brand new trailer, and it landed fast.
A Long Wait Finally Pays Off
Nintendo first showed Splatoon Raiders in June 2025. There was a trailer, a wave of excitement, and then nothing. No updates, no previews, not even a teaser for months on end.
Today, that changed.
The release date dropped alongside a fresh batch of details about what the game actually looks like, and it is a bigger departure from the main series than most people probably expected.
So What is Splatoon Raiders?
The core Splatoon games live and breathe on competitive multiplayer. Raiders is doing something different. Nintendo describes it as a single-player-focused action shooter, an obvious push to pull in players who never clicked with the online turf wars the series built its name on.
You play as the Mechanic. Not a random Inkling, not an Octoling. A mechanic with gadgets, a mission, and the ability to craft your own weapons and tools on the fly.
Your job is to raid the Spirhalite Islands, a location that has never appeared in any Splatoon game before. You explore, fight enemies, and collect loot while piecing together whatever is going wrong out there.
The main enemies are Salmonids, the fish-like creatures longtime fans will know from Salmon Run in Splatoon 3. This time, they are not a wave defense minigame. They are the main threat standing between you and the treasure you are after.
The Story Kicks Off With a Bang
Deep Cut, the idol trio from Splatoon 3, are on a helicopter heading to the Spirhalite Islands when a beam of light explodes out of a vortex above the archipelago. A cyclone forms almost instantly and takes the helicopter down.
That is the opening scene.
What follows is your Mechanic character trying to survive and figure out what is actually happening on these islands. Nintendo has not revealed much beyond that setup, but it is a strong hook. And it looks like Frye, Shiver, and Big Man will not just be along for the story. All three appear to be playable in combat as well.
Play Solo or Bring Friends
Despite being billed as single-player focused, Raiders does have a multiplayer side. You can team up with up to three other players, both online and locally. So if you and your friends want to raid the Spirhalite Islands together, that option is there.
Customization is a Big Part of the Game
Players can customize both their character’s appearance and their combat loadout before heading into raids.
The weapon pool mixes the ink-splattering guns and rollers the series is known for with new mechanical gadgets. Since you are playing as a mechanic, you can actually craft your own weapons and tools rather than just picking from a preset list. It is a neat twist that fits the character concept well.
The word “raid” also suggests the game has some replayability built in, though Nintendo has not explained exactly how that works yet.
Three New Amiibo Are Coming Too
Nintendo confirmed that three new amiibo will launch on the same day as the game, one for each member of Deep Cut. That means Frye, Shiver, and Big Man are all getting their own figures.
Pre-orders for both the game and the amiibo are going live later today, so if you want to lock in a copy or grab the figures, keep an eye out.
Price and Where to Buy
Splatoon Raiders will cost £41.99 on the Nintendo eShop digitally. Physical pricing has not been confirmed yet, but pre-orders are opening up today through Nintendo’s official channels.
This is a Real Reason to Buy a Switch 2
Splatoon Raiders is a Switch 2 exclusive. No Switch 1 version, no cross-gen compromise. If you want to play it, you need the new hardware.
That matters because Nintendo has been building out the Switch 2 library since the console launched earlier this year, and a fully original Splatoon title carries more weight than another port or remaster. For anyone still deciding whether the Switch 2 is worth it, this is the kind of game that tips the scales.
For fans who already own the console, July 23 is now the date.
What Comes Next
With three months until launch, Nintendo will almost certainly share more before release, whether that is another Direct, a gameplay deep-dive, or a steady drip of updates through the Squid Research Lab social accounts.
The Nintendo Today app is where today’s announcement hit first, so that is worth keeping on your radar going forward.
Are you pre-ordering Splatoon Raiders today? Let us know in the comments, and pass this along to a Splatoon fan who might have missed the news.
