After almost a year of radio silence, Splatoon Raiders is officially happening. Nintendo dropped a brand-new trailer through the Nintendo Today app on April 21 confirming a July 23, 2026 release on Nintendo Switch 2. It will run $50 digitally and $60 for the physical edition — an aggressively priced spin-off given how much new content is on display.
Raiders is the first Splatoon spin-off built squarely around the single-player experience, although the trailer confirmed up to three friends can drop in for online co-op. You play a freelance mechanic teaming up with Deep Cut — Frye, Shiver, and Big Man — to raid the mysterious Spirhalite Islands in search of treasure. The setup borrows liberally from the franchise's Salmon Run mode, but it has been re-engineered into something closer to a structured action campaign with bosses, traversal puzzles, and a weapon upgrade tree.
What the new trailer actually shows
The release-date trailer does a lot of heavy lifting after months of silence. Nintendo finally showed the weapon upgrade system, new player customization options, and Salmonid enemy variants tuned specifically for solo play. The campaign reportedly spans an "expansive" structure across the islands, with Deep Cut serving as your trio of guides and combat partners rather than just narrators. Combat looks faster and more vertical than the mainline Splatoons, leaning into Raiders' action-game DNA.
The bigger picture for Switch 2
Raiders has always been an odd fit on paper — a major franchise spin-off launching during the Switch 2's first big content year, sitting alongside Mario Kart World, Mario Tennis Fever, and Pokemon Champions. The reveal date plants a Splatoon flag right in the middle of summer, when first-party schedules typically slow down, and gives Switch 2 owners a reason to keep their consoles in their bags during the back half of 2026.
The original Splatoon Raiders announcement back in June 2025 left fans worried the project had quietly slipped. With a release date, a price, and a campaign-shaped trailer in hand, it's clear Nintendo wants this on the calendar — and Deep Cut fans finally have something concrete to look forward to.
