Splatoon Raiders 2 Release Date Revealed

2 hours ago 2

Published Apr 21, 2026, 9:31 AM EDT

Scott Baird is a contributor with over a decade's experience writing about video games, along with board games and tabletop RPGs. Scott has previously worked for Dexerto, Cracked, Dorkly, and Gamepur.

Nintendo has announced the release date for Splatoon Raiders, a single-player entry in the Splatoon franchise. Nintendo Switch 2 fans can rejoice, as it means the system finally has another exclusive for 2026, being added to the meager pile of upcoming titles.

The Splatoon franchise currently consists of a multiplayer trilogy of games, where the aim of each match is to coat as much of the battle arena in ink as possible. It's possible to temporarily KO enemies with weapons, meaning they won't be around to cover the player's ink. Despite being multiplayer-focused, the Splatoon games have had some awesome single-player campaigns, especially in their DLC.

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Rather than reveal the Splatoon Raiders release date as an exciting moment during a Nintendo Direct, the company did it via the Nintendo Today app, as it did with the game's announcement. Splatoon Raiders will launch as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive on July 23, 2026, and will feature exclusive amiibo figures based on the members of the Deep Cut band.

Splatoon Raiders Release Date Means The Switch 2 Has A Game For The Second Half Of 2026

The release date reveal for Splatoon Raiders can't have come soon enough, as the Nintendo Switch 2 library is crying out for more first-party exclusives, as the only one with a solid release date remaining for 2026 is Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. Sure, there are games with 2026 as a release window, like The Duskbloods, but those could easily be delayed.

If anything, the only thing truly exciting fans about the remainder of 2026 is the leaks regarding a new Star Fox game, as well as a rumored remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Those announcements would break the Internet, but they're still just rumors, at least as of this writing.

Regardless, Splatoon Raiders is shaping up to be an awesome-looking game, though it's unclear why it needs to be a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, as the visuals aren't too different from the ones in Splatoon 3. Sure, the maps look a lot bigger than the ones from Splatoon, but it's unclear just how much of it the player will be able to explore.

Splatoon Raiders is going to give the Nintendo Switch 2 a much-needed injection of content, and those who loved the solo content in the Splatoon trilogy should be excited about it. At the very least, it should keep them satisfied before Splatoon 4 hits the system.