Splatoon Raiders

Splatoon Raiders is a 2026 third-person shooter game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch 2. It is the first spinoff of the Splatoon series and the fourth installment overall. Set on the remote Spirhalite Islands, Raiders has the player take on the role of a mechanic. Accompanied by Shiver, Frye, and Big Man of the idol group Deep Cut, they explore the islands in search of treasure and are intercepted by its hostile inhabitants called Salmonids. Raiders sees the player use ink as ammunition and means of navigation to traverse various levels scattered about the Spirhalite Islands. The game features over 100 available weapons, divided amongst eleven classes, that are obtained randomly by killing enemies in a manner akin to a looter shooter. Raiders features "gadgets", secondary armaments linked to one of three types of player-worn "ink tanks" that specialize in mobility, aggression, and strategic fighting options. The player is accompanied by the Exploration Bot, a mechanized vehicle operated by either Shiver, Frye, or Big Man that assists in combat. Development on Raiders began during the later period of Splatoon 3's update cycle. Inspired by the cooperative Splatoon game mode Salmon Run, it was conceived to offer unique gameplay experiences from past Splatoon games and serve as an approachable entry point to the series for newcomers. It inherited the experimental design philosophy of the series' two previous downloadable content (DLC) expansions, Octo Expansion and Side Order. The customizable gadget system served to provide more dynamic movement and combat options. While the Spirhalite Islands were at first designed as having a light-hearted, tropical resort-like aesthetic, the team opted to make them derelict and unsettling. Deep Cut was chosen to take center stage in the story as developers felt they had been inadequately explored as characters in the single-player...