Splatoon Raiders Preorders Open on Switch 2

"A single-player focused experience" is not a phrase anyone expected to read in a Splatoon announcement. But that's exactly what Nintendo is pitching with Splatoon Raiders, the Switch 2 exclusive that swaps ink-splattering turf wars for a PvE treasure hunt through the Spirhalite Islands. Preorders went live this week, and the game is confirmed for a July 23 release.

I'll be honest: this is one of the more interesting creative swings Nintendo has made in a while. Splatoon built its identity on chaotic online multiplayer. The single-player campaigns in Splatoon 2 and 3 were solid, sure, but they always felt like appetisers before the main course. Raiders is flipping that entirely, putting you up against hordes of Salmonids in what sounds closer to a co-op action game than anything the series has done before. Friends can join for cooperative play, but the solo experience is clearly the focus. Nearly four years after Splatoon 3, this isn't just a sequel; it's a genre pivot.

Pricing and Preorder Details

The physical edition runs $60, while the digital version comes in at $50. Both are available for preorder at Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop, according to retailer listings tracked by Nintendo Everything. Three new Amiibo figures are also launching alongside the game on July 23: Frye, Shiver, and Big Man, all currently listed for preorder at Amazon.

That $10 gap between physical and digital is a small but welcome detail. Nintendo doesn't always price the digital version lower, and for a first-party Switch 2 title, $50 digital feels fair. Whether the physical edition includes anything beyond the cartridge to justify the premium isn't clear yet.

What I find most surprising is the confidence behind this move. Splatoon's competitive community is massive, and Raiders doesn't appear to be catering to them at all. There's no mention of PvP, no turf war, no ranked mode. Nintendo is betting that the Splatoon universe, its art style, its characters, its world, can carry a game without the thing that made it famous. That's a risk, and I respect it more than another safe iterative sequel would have earned.

The Switch 2 lineup around this window is already stacking up. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth lands June 3, Digimon Story: Time Stranger hits July 10, and Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 follows in August. Splatoon Raiders slots into late July as one of Nintendo's own first-party offerings for the new hardware, and giving it a release date this concrete suggests Nintendo sees it as a system-seller rather than an experiment they're hedging on.

Splatoon Raiders launches July 23 exclusively on Switch 2. The Frye, Shiver, and Big Man Amiibo figures release the same day.