Splatoon Raiders — Overview
Splatoon Raiders is the first-ever spin-off in Nintendo's Splatoon series -- a single-player-focused, PvE treasure-hunting action shooter, developed internally by Nintendo EPD and published exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2. It launched July 23, 2026, after being announced back on June 10, 2025. Unlike the mainline Splatoon games, Raiders drops competitive Turf War entirely in favor of a looter-shooter structure across a new setting, the Spirhalite Islands, with an optional 4-player local or online co-op mode that scales difficulty based on how many players are present.
Story and Setting
You play as an Inkling or Octoling called the Mechanic, piloting a helicopter alongside Deep Cut -- the trio of Shiver, Frye, and Big Man, previously known as antagonists-turned-allies from Splatoon 3 -- as they chase a lead across the Spirhalite Islands. The islands are dotted with dungeons, Salmonid enemy dens, and mining sites rich in a valuable resource called Spirhalite.
The Core Loop
Every run follows the same shape: choose a Tank (Power, Speed, or Tactical), equip compatible Gadgets, a main weapon, Relic Powers, and a Deep Cut Bot Buddy, then head into a raid to ink terrain, use Swim Form, mine Spirhalite, and search for treasure while fighting off Salmonids for Power Eggs, weapon drops, and crafting materials. Progress carries back to your Hideout Ship, where you permanently upgrade your gear between runs.
Genuinely Deep Build Systems
This is a real looter-shooter with meaningful build depth, not a light spin-off. Three Tank archetypes (Power for close-range burst damage, Speed for hit-and-run mobility, Tactical for battlefield control) each unlock their own Gadget pool, while Relic Powers -- passive abilities earned from completing dungeons -- can be freely mixed and matched from the Hideout Ship's Gear Menu. Weapons carry their own rarity tiers, with top-end "Primo" 5-star weapons representing genuine endgame chase items.
Difficulty and Reception
Two difficulty modes are available: Tourist and Raider. Reviews have been strong overall -- IGN and Nintendo Life both gave it 9/10, with an aggregate of 81 on Metacritic and 80 on OpenCritic, putting it on par with the mainline Splatoon entries. Not every outlet was as enthusiastic: The Guardian gave it just 2/5, and Giant Bomb, while broadly positive, specifically criticized the boss fights as leaning more on damage-sponge health bars than genuine puzzle design.