Splatoon Raiders Release Date, Gameplay & Pre-Order

Splatoon Raiders is the franchise’s first real spin-off, and it’s coming in hot on July 23, 2026, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.

Single-player campaign, optional four-player co-op, treasure hunting across the Spirhalite Islands, and Deep Cut in mechs. Here’s everything confirmed so far.

Splatoon Raiders Release Date & Announcement History

Splatoon Raiders officially lands on July 23, 2026, and it’s a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive with no current plans for a Switch 1 version. Nintendo confirmed the release date through a dedicated gameplay trailer dropped on April 21, 2026, via Nintendo Today! App, the same platform that carried the original announcement back in June 2025.

The game was first revealed on June 10, 2025, exactly 11 years after the original Splatoon teaser at E3 2014. Nintendo dropped the announcement alongside the Splatoon 3 Ver. 10.0.0 update, giving it a moment that felt deliberate for long-time fans of the series.

The reveal focused more on atmosphere than gameplay, showing the crash landing and island setup without giving away much about how the actual combat and raiding mechanics would work.

Fast-forward to April 2026, and the second trailer gave us the full picture: weapon customization, Bot Buddy companions, Salmonid enemy variants, dungeon-style raid areas, and the confirmed release date.

The gap between the announcement and release date trailer was about ten months, which kept community chatter going but also caused a fair bit of the early hype to cool down before this second reveal reignited it.

Category	Details
Release Date	July 23, 2026
Platform	Nintendo Switch 2
Digital Price	$49.99
Physical Price	$59.99
Players	1–4 (Online / Local)
File Size	~20 GB
ESRB Rating	Everyone 10+
Genre	Action / Adventure Shooter

Pre-Order Details

Pre-orders for Splatoon Raiders are live right now through the Nintendo eShop on Switch 2 and physical retailers. If you want the digital version, digital pre-loads will go live closer to July 23.

The physical copy runs $59.99, while the digital version is a straight $49.99; that’s a $10 saving by going digital, and Nintendo appears to be actively pushing this pricing gap across several of their recent Switch 2 releases. At ~20 GB, the digital download is manageable if you’ve got storage space sorted on your Switch 2.

Story & Setting: The Spirhalite Islands

Splatoon Raiders puts you in the role of the Mechanic, a fully customizable Inkling or Octoling with a mysterious backstory and a talent for building weapons and gadgets out of whatever’s available.

You’re piloting a helicopter for Deep Cut on what was supposed to be a treasure-hunting trip to the Spirhalite Islands, a remote, jungle-heavy archipelago. Then a golden beam of light erupts from a vortex over the islands, a massive storm hits, and the helicopter goes down.

Stranded on a reef with a makeshift ship-base camp cobbled together from salvage, you and Deep Cut (Shiver, Frye, and Big Man) start raiding the islands for treasure and supplies while trying to figure out what caused the anomaly in the first place.

The tone is part survival adventure, part mystery, and very much on-brand Splatoon; there’s clearly a lot of humor baked in, especially with Deep Cut showing up in beat-up “worn-down” outfits around the base camp versus their standard idol gear during the story’s bigger moments.

Beyond the crash and the mystery beam, the full story details haven’t been revealed yet. Nintendo and the Splatoon Wiki have confirmed the basic arc, but we don’t know yet how deep the lore goes or whether it ties directly to the wider Splatoon 3 storyline. Given how much Splatoon 3’s Alterna campaign surprised people, there’s a reasonable expectation that Raiders will carry some real narrative weight.

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Splatoon Raiders Gameplay Overview

If you are expecting standard Turf War matches, adjust your expectations. This is a single-player-focused action shooter built entirely around exploration, crafting, and dungeon-crawling.

Splatoon Raiders runs on a raid-and-return core loop: you drop into dungeon-style areas on the Spirhalite Islands, fight through waves of Salmonids, collect treasure and salvage, and bring it back to the base. The structure is level-based with a stage select screen for each island rather than an open world, which keeps things focused and lets Nintendo design tighter encounters per area.

The combat mixes classic Splatoon ink mechanics with new gadgets that the Mechanic crafts. Swimming through ink, splatting enemies with weapons you’ve built, and using the environment for positional advantages are all present.

But the additions are where it gets interesting. The April 2026 trailer showed off several new tools and attack options that don’t exist anywhere else in the franchise.

Combat Feel and Raid Mechanics

The core gameplay loop revolves around raiding the Spirhalite Islands for salvage. You drop into level-based, dungeon-style areas to battle waves of enemies and hunt for loot. From a mechanical standpoint, the control responsiveness seems tightly tuned for rapid evasion against hostile Salmonids.

You rely on ink-splattering weapons, but the gear here leans heavily into survival and salvaging. The traditional loadouts are replaced with craftable tools, including a new “Splatchet” and an ink-fueled Axe that bursts your character forward to close the gap on targets. You also equip Relic Powers, which modify your movement tech by granting mid-air jumps or summoning ink saucers.

Multiplayer

Despite being positioned as a single-player-first experience, Splatoon Raiders supports two to four players through the full campaign, either online with Nintendo Switch Online or via local wireless. The solo experience pairs you with a Deep Cut Bot Buddy.

In co-op, you and up to three friends each play as Mechanics raiding the islands together. Difficulty scales automatically to account for the number of players. Nintendo is still calling the solo run the main experience, but four-player raid co-op through an entire campaign is genuinely a different value proposition than what the initial announcement framing suggested.

All Characters & Other Exciting News in Splatoon Raiders

The character roster shifts away from the urban residents of Inkopolis to focus on a smaller, dedicated crew navigating a hostile environment.

• The Mechanic: You play as this fully customizable Inkling or Octoling protagonist. Character creation focuses on a “junkyard survival” aesthetic, makeshift armor, and tools tied with ropes, swapping the usual streetwear for rugged island utility. You also serve as the crew’s helicopter pilot.
• Deep Cut (Shiver, Frye, Big Man): The idol trio from Splatoon 3 returns as your primary companions. They manage your makeshift base camp and actually join you in combat. In solo play, one Deep Cut member tags along inside a powerful “Bot Buddy” mech to provide offensive and defensive support.
• The Salmonids: Returning as the primary antagonistic force, they feature updated, aggressive designs and new combat variants specific to the Spirhalite Islands.

Deep Cut Amiibo Set

A new amiibo set featuring all three Deep Cut members, Shiver, Frye, and Big Man, in their Splatoon Raiders outfits launches on the same day as the game, July 23, 2026.

Pre-orders are open through the My Nintendo Store right now. Based on Nintendo’s track record with Splatoon amiibo figures, these are going to be hard to find at retail on day one, so if you’re planning to get the physical figures, pre-ordering is the safer move.

Other Exciting News Around Splatoon Raiders

1. Splatoon 3 Ver. 10.0.0 Connection

The initial Raiders announcement came packaged with the Splatoon 3 Ver. 10.0.0 update, which some players read as a signal that Nintendo views the two games as connected chapters rather than a clean break. Even though content crossovers haven’t been confirmed, the co-launch framing at the announcement is worth noting.

2. Nintendo Switch 2 Launch Context

Splatoon Raiders drops on July 23, 2026, sharing the general mid-summer window with Rhythm Heaven earlier that month. Nintendo’s current Switch 2 release calendar has June relatively quiet heading into the summer run, which has sparked speculation about a larger unannounced title filling that gap.

Regardless of what else shows up, Raiders is positioned as one of the notable Switch 2 titles of summer 2026, and at its price point, it’s accessible enough to pull in players who might not have followed the Splatoon 3 competitive scene.

3. What Could Still Be Revealed

With three months to go before launch, there’s still content to be announced. The crafting system details, full weapon roster, any unlockable content beyond the main campaign, potential amiibo functionality in-game, and whether a demo is coming are all open.

Nintendo usually runs a Nintendo Direct in the weeks before a major first-party launch, so a deeper gameplay breakdown between May and July is likely.

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Splatoon Raiders’ Price

Splatoon Raiders comes in at $49.99 digital and $59.99 physical. That pricing lands below the standard $69.99–$79.99 range for Nintendo’s mainline first-party releases, which tells you something about how Nintendo is positioning this; it’s a real game, not an add-on, but it’s priced to reflect that it’s a spin-off rather than a numbered mainline entry.

Version	Price	Notes
Digital (Nintendo eShop)	$49.99	Pre-loads available closer to launch. ~20 GB download.
Physical (Boxed)	$59.99	Available at physical retailers. Pre-orders live now.
Deep Cut Amiibo Set	Separate purchase	Shiver, Frye, Big Man; Raiders outfits. Launches July 23.

The $10 gap between digital and physical is the same gap Nintendo has been rolling out across several recent Switch 2 titles. If you’re comfortable going all-digital, $49.99 for a first-party Nintendo action shooter with single-player campaign and co-op support is a solid entry point.

For the content scope we’ve seen so far, like exploration, crafting, raid structure, and a full co-op option, that price feels fair without knowing the final campaign length.

The ESRB has rated the game Everyone 10+ (Fantasy Violence). PEGI gives it a 7, and the USK rating lands at 12. CERO A covers Japan. No content concerns here; this is squarely in the same family-accessible range as every other Splatoon game.

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Splatoon Raiders is likely to be the most ambitious single-player project the Splatoon franchise has attempted.

It’s carrying real production weight: cinematic setup, full character customization, a crafting and gadget system, Deep Cut as an active combat partner with mech suits, and four-player co-op through the entire campaign. That’s a full game.

If you’ve got a Switch 2 and any history with the Splatoon series, especially Salmon Run, this has the right ingredients to be one of the year’s standout releases. July 23 can’t get here fast enough.