5 Things We Just Learned About Splatoon Raiders, The Nintendo Shooter Franchise’s Single-Player Spin-Off

Splatoon’s single-player modes have always harbored some interesting ideas, but they’ve all either felt like drawn-out tutorials or been relegated to brief paid DLCs. That’s why Splatoon Raiders, the series’ first single-player spin-off, is a big deal—Nintendo has a chance to finally give players the full-length, fleshed-out mission we’ve been waiting for.

Previous trailers have taught us that the player (after selecting a hairstyle from possibly the coolest list of options in a Splatoon game yet) will take on the role of a scrappy little mechanic who has to fend off salmonids. Big Man, Shiver, and Frye are returning, and one of them helps you out via a really stubby-looking mech that’s probably way too small for poor Big Man’s big stingray arms.

Until recently, however, we didn’t have any real idea about what the game actually is. A roguelite like Side Order? A wave-based challenge mode like Salmon Run? Or a string of fairly linear missions that build on the tutorial-style levels of the previous campaigns?

Finally, during the June 9 Nintendo Direct and the Treehouse presentation that followed, the Switch 2 maker cleared up a bunch of things about the upcoming spin-off. There’s also a dedicated Splatoon Raiders Direct arriving on June 30th, but for now, here’s what we’ve learned about the third-person shooter coming out July 23.

Less Linear Raids

Most single-player Splatoon modes have been fairly simple, save for Splatoon 3’s hub world, which offered some really neat exploration that fans adored. Raiders is apparently taking notes from that hub world and offering a bit more of an open-ended sandbox experience. As you fight salmonids in raids, you’ll have to search around for treasure, weapons, and a key resource called Spirhalite Shards. You can also surf between islands!

Meet The Hideout Ship

In between these raids, you’ll hang out on a very sketchy-looking ship with the members of Deep Cut. This ship serves as your team’s headquarters, so it’s where you’ll go to tinker with gear, purchase upgrades, plan out future raids, and test out new weapons. You’ll also apparently have the ability to build new parts for the ship, but this hasn’t been shown off at all yet. It finally has a name, too: the Hideout Ship, which is just very cute.

Gadgets Galore

As a mechanic, you’ll build a bunch of gadgets to help you out on your journey. Unlike the series’ sub weapons, these aren’t tied to your main weapons, meaning you’re free to equip whichever ones you’d like. There’s the Shot Pot (which fires ink over and over again), the enemy-slicing Splatchet, and the ink-spinning Splattelites. We also got peeks at some unnamed gadgets that seem to mirror mechanics from previous Splatoon games, like an automatic-targeting version of those little spinning tops from Side Order. Speaking of Side Order, there are plenty of customizable upgrades you can make to your tank, weapon, and companion. There’s also a mysterious tab for something called Relic Powers, which I’d guess are powers found during exploration.

Treasure Hunting Is Key

During the Nintendo Treehouse that followed the Direct, the hosts happened upon some treasure and then…proceeded to cut off the stream before opening the chest in order to avoid showing us what was inside. That’s pretty funny considering the fact that an earlier trailer showed a shot of one of these chests being opened to reveal a little statue of a salmonid who’s seriously squared up. The statue seems to unlock a new ability, too. We had obviously seen this treasure before, but the Treehouse presentation emphasized that treasure hunting is your ultimate goal on these islands. (I’m also convinced that these treasures might be displayable on the ship much like Splatoon 3’s locker trinkets.) 

It’s Hard (If You Want It To Be)

The trailer during the Direct seemed to suggest that Splatoon Raiders won’t be afraid to be challenging, which is pretty exciting news when it comes to single-player content for the franchise. The gameplay seems to rival some of the most unforgiving multiplayer Salmon Run waves in which salmonids surround you from every angle and leave you genuinely overwhelmed. Raiders brings a handful of new salmonids with new abilities, too, which should keep things interesting. However, upgrades along the way make things easier. The presenters during the Treehouse also mentioned that the game has difficulty settings, so if you’re more of a laidback squid, don’t sweat it.