Nintendo unveils Splatoon Raiders, a single-player Switch 2 exclusive for July 23

Nintendo turned Splatoon Raiders from a spinoff tease into a clearer strategic bet on April 21, setting the game for July 23 as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive and opening preorders. The message behind the trailer was bigger than a release date: Nintendo is trying to stretch Splatoon beyond competitive multiplayer and make it a franchise that can help sell hardware to players who may never spend much time in ranked matches.

The game is built around that broader pitch. Nintendo says players will step into the role of a mechanic, team up with Deep Cut, travel to mysterious islands, fight Salmonids, and collect treasure while using gadgets and character creation. The company describes Splatoon Raiders as mainly a single-player adventure and a single-player focused action shooter, but it is not locked to solo play. One member of Deep Cut will travel with the player as a bot, and up to three other players can join online or through local wireless.

Nintendo’s store listing puts a firmer commercial frame around the project. Splatoon Raiders is priced at $49.99 in the U.S., carries an estimated 20 GB file size, and supports Japanese, British English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Dutch, Simplified Chinese, Latin American Spanish, Canadian French, Traditional Chinese, and American English. That mix suggests a broad rollout across Nintendo’s major markets, with localization and product planning already baked in alongside the game’s more unusual structure.

The release also fits into a longer rollout that began on June 10, 2025, when Nintendo first announced Splatoon Raiders as the series’ first-ever spinoff and said more information would come later. Two days after that reveal, Nintendo tied the project to a free Splatoon 3 update that added 30 new weapon kits, brought back Urchin Underpass, and introduced a new Series Weapon Power stat. That sequencing matters inside Nintendo because it shows the company is not replacing Splatoon 3 so much as expanding the brand in parallel.

For Nintendo’s internal teams, a dated Switch 2 exclusive changes the work in practical ways. Marketing, QA, localization, age ratings, customer support, eShop merchandising, and retail planning all have to move together. More broadly, Splatoon Raiders is another early sign that Nintendo wants Switch 2 to launch with software that feels distinct from the series’ core online battle loop, while still carrying the polish and personality that define the brand.