Nintendo has finally cracked open the vault on Splatoon Raiders, dropping a fresh gameplay-heavy trailer and confirming a July 23, 2026 release date for the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive spin-off. It’s a bold pivot for the ink-slinging series: a single-player-focused treasure-hunting adventure starring a customizable “Mechanic,” backed up by Splatoon 3’s Deep Cut trio—Shiver, Frye, and Big Man—and yes, there are new Deep Cut amiibo arriving the same day.
After nearly a year of near-total silence since the game’s initial reveal, this is the kind of concrete update Switch 2 owners have been begging for: a date, a clearer sense of what the game actually is, and pricing that signals Nintendo wants Raiders to be a major summer release without pushing into premium territory.
What the New Trailer Confirms (and Why It’s a Big Deal)
The new trailer makes it crystal clear what Nintendo is going for: Splatoon’s style and combat language, but transplanted into a treasure-hunting, raid-driven adventure on the Spirhalite Islands. You play as a customizable Inkling or Octoling Mechanic, and the footage opens by showing the character customization process before shifting into exploration, combat, crafting, and boss encounters.
The enemies are the Salmonids, familiar to anyone who’s spent time in Salmon Run in Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3. But the vibe here isn’t “drop into a match, win the objective, queue again.” Raiders looks structured around pushing deeper into a hostile space, salvaging supplies, and hauling out loot as you go—very much a “go out, get stuff, come back stronger” loop.
Nintendo’s also leaning hard into the “Mechanic” identity. The trailer and official descriptions emphasize building and tinkering: you’ll gather materials (including Spirhalite Shards) and craft gadgets to help you survive raids and deal with Salmonids while you hunt relics you can sell for money. That’s a meaningful shift for Splatoon, a series that’s always had loadouts and gear, but rarely made construction and customization feel like the core fantasy.
And then there are the toys. The trailer shows familiar Splatoon staples—paint guns and brushes—alongside new creations like a paint turret and melee options including an axe-like weapon. There’s also a named weapon mentioned: the Splatchet. Between the gadgets you can place in the field and the gear you can upgrade, Raiders is positioning itself as the most “DIY Splatoon” Nintendo’s ever shipped.
Deep Cut isn’t just window dressing, either. They’re traveling with you, and one member of the trio can raid alongside you using a powerful bot. In other words: this isn’t just a cameo tour for Shiver, Frye, and Big Man—Nintendo is making them part of the moment-to-moment action.
Single-Player Focused… But Co-op Is Still on the Table
Nintendo is branding Splatoon Raiders as a “single-player-focused” game, and that wording matters. The trailer itself pushes the solo angle hard, and the overall structure clearly isn’t built around competitive multiplayer.
But despite the “single-player adventure” framing, Raiders is not strictly single-player only. Nintendo has clarified that the game supports joining with up to three other players via online play or local wireless. That means you can tackle the Spirhalite Islands alone, or roll in as a squad of up to four.
This is a crucial distinction because it changes what Raiders is in practice. A lot of players heard “single-player Splatoon spin-off” and assumed “no co-op, no friends, purely solo campaign.” Instead, it sounds like Nintendo is threading the needle: a game designed to be satisfying solo, but flexible enough to become a co-op PvE hangout—something Splatoon fans have historically gravitated toward in Salmon Run.
The trailer also suggests that if you play alone, Deep Cut can still function as support—fighting alongside you with their bot assistance at different spots on the islands. That’s smart design on paper: solo players get backup and personality, while co-op players get the chaos of a four-player raid.
Release Date, Platforms, Price, File Size, and Pre-orders
Here’s the hard info Nintendo has now locked in:
- Release date: July 23, 2026
- Platform: Nintendo Switch 2 (exclusive)
- Price (digital): $49.99 / £41.99
- Price (physical, US): $59.99
- UK physical price: not yet confirmed
- Estimated file size: 20GB
- Pre-orders: available via Nintendo eShop and My Nintendo Store (with amiibo pre-orders also available via My Nintendo Store)
That digital/physical split is notable. In the US, the physical version costs $10 more than digital, following Nintendo’s newer pricing structure that’s already been used on at least one other recent release. Whether players love it or hate it, it’s clearly becoming part of Nintendo’s modern playbook.
Nintendo also revealed the game’s box art, featuring the Deep Cut trio and the playable Mechanic in action poses, ink splashed across the ground, and a looming crowd of red-eyed Salmonids in the background. It’s classic Splatoon energy—bright, stylish, and slightly menacing in that “Saturday morning cartoon apocalypse” way the series does so well.
New Deep Cut amiibo Launch the Same Day (and Their Bases Connect)
If you collect amiibo, Nintendo is giving you a very obvious reason to circle July 23 in red ink. Alongside the game, Nintendo is releasing three new Splatoon Raiders-themed amiibo:
- Shiver (Splatoon Raiders Edition)
- Frye (Splatoon Raiders Edition)
- Big Man (Splatoon Raiders Edition)
They’ll be available on July 23, and the trio’s bases fit together for a unified display. The figures can be purchased individually or as a three-pack, and pre-orders are slated to go live (with My Nintendo Store already listing them for pre-order).
Design-wise, these aren’t just reprints. They’re new outfits and a different vibe—more “adventure gear” than “stage-ready Splatfest icons.” Big Man’s new figure even features bandaged fins, and the overall posing is more relaxed, with Shiver and Frye shown with fishing gear. Whether that reflects the tone of Raiders itself (more exploration and scavenging, less arena spectacle) is the obvious read—and it’s a compelling one.
Nintendo previously released Deep Cut amiibo tied to Splatoon 3 back in 2023, but this is a full follow-up set built specifically around Raiders’ new look.
Why Splatoon Raiders Could Be the Most Important Splatoon Spin-Off Yet
Splatoon has always had a weird reputation: massively popular, instantly recognizable, and mechanically brilliant—yet still perceived by some as “that multiplayer shooter Nintendo makes.” Raiders is Nintendo taking a swing at that perception.
By centering a single-player-focused adventure with crafting, treasure hunting, and raid-style PvE, Nintendo is widening the funnel. Players who bounced off competitive modes—or who simply don’t want their Splatoon time dictated by matchmaking—now have a game that’s designed to be played at your pace. And for longtime fans, it’s an excuse to live in Splatoon’s universe without the constant pressure of ranked ladders and meta churn.
The other reason this matters: Switch 2 needs first-party anchors, and Raiders looks positioned as one of Nintendo’s big summer tentpoles. A July release, a new amiibo wave, and a trailer that’s almost entirely gameplay is Nintendo saying, “This isn’t a side dish.” It’s a real release with real weight.
That said, Nintendo is still being careful with its language. “Single-player-focused” is a promise, but also a hedge—because co-op is supported, and because the structure looks like it could lean heavily on repeatable raids and loot loops rather than a traditional linear campaign. That’s not a bad thing. It just means the real test will be how satisfying the progression feels, and how much variety the islands and objectives can sustain over dozens of hours.
What Remains Unknown
Even with the new trailer and release date, there are still big questions Nintendo hasn’t fully answered:
- How the game is structured: a fully open world, a hub-and-expeditions format, or something in between hasn’t been explicitly detailed.
- How deep crafting and upgrades go, and what limits exist on weapon/gadget customization.
- Whether there are difficulty options or accessibility settings tailored for solo play.
- What amiibo functionality will actually unlock in-game (no official details yet).
- The physical UK price for Splatoon Raiders has not yet been confirmed.
- How robust the co-op experience is (shared progression, matchmaking options, drop-in/drop-out behavior) hasn’t been detailed.
For now, the headline is simple and satisfying: Splatoon Raiders is real, it’s coming soon, and it’s shaping up to be a genuinely different kind of Splatoon game—one that could finally give the series’ PvE ambitions the spotlight they’ve always deserved. July 23 can’t come fast enough.
