Nintendo has announced the release date for the latest entry in the Splatoon series, with Splatoon Raiders now set for a 23rd July launch, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.
Splatoon has put a lot of emphasis on multiplayer action in the past, but this will be a primarily single-player focused game, albeit one where you’ll either play with one of the Deep Cut members alongside you… or in up to four player co-op online or via local wireless.
The story takes us away from the big cities to the Spirhalite Islands, where Deep Cut are heading out to hunt for treasure (and defeat tons of bad guys). You’ll customise your character with various mechanical gadgets and the ink-splatting guns that have made the series so iconic, and battle against waves of Salmonids while searching the islands for salvage. It feels somewhat related to the Salmon Run game mode from Splatoon 2 and 3 in that regard, but expect there to be much more wrapped around this for Raiders.
If you want pure multiplayer, though, you’ll still have to stick with Splatoon 3 – though thankfully that game’s been updated with Switch 2 support for improved resolutions and performance. For our Splatoon 3 review, I wrote: “Splatoon 3 is a bit like your mum making your favourite meal when you head home for the holidays. It’s been a few years since the last game — while there have been some great improvements and additions, it’s the same old Splatoon we know and love, and that’s still pretty great.”
