In a very unceremonious move, Nintendo announced an upcoming Switch 2 game not at a Direct or in an official press release, but on the Nintendo Today App. Alongside a load of details on a new Splatoon 3 update coming on June 12, including its Switch 2 performance boost, we also got a tiny teaser of the first official spinoff game in the Splatoon universe: Splatoon Raiders.
While details are incredibly scarce right now, there are some big hints at the new direction this game will take that have me very excited.
A constantly evolving franchise
Even though Nintendo is calling Splatoon Raiders the first official spinoff — and this is technically true as a stand-alone product — it is far from the first time Splatoon has ventured into other genres. The core three games are multiplayer shooters, of course, but at this point they’ve also branched out to include linear single player campaigns, PvE hoard mode, roguelike mode, and even a card game. Few franchises even dare to stretch themselves into that many genres. Splatoon not only did, but has proven that it can pull them off.
With Splatoon Raiders, the only official description we have is that “players will go on an adventure in the mysterious Spirhalite Islands alongside the splat-tacular Deep Cut trio.” Between that and the little bit of footage shown above, there are strong signs that this could be Splatoon’s take on a survival game.
The idea of expanding the Splatoon world with a larger map to explore, perhaps some base building, and a robot buddy to possibly upgrade all fit within the Splatoon ethos while experimenting with the series in fresh ways. Style and expression have been the heart of the series, so it feels like a natural evolution to expand that beyond our character and allow us to build our own little worlds. We already know how creative Nintendo can be using the ink system for traversal and platforming in the single player modes, so translating that to a more open environment with secrets and hidden challenges would be a perfect fit. Plus, the possibility of new tools for traversal and building opens up entirely new avenues for gameplay. Being a Switch 2 game, I fully expect it to take advantage of the new mouse control system in that regard.
It has never been the primary focus before, but Splatoon has always had a rich (and somewhat dark) lore beneath all that bright ink and hip-hop music. Splatoon 3 did bring it a bit more to the forefront, but Splatoon Raiders being a spinoff could be a great way to test the waters for a more front-facing narrative.
Of course, this is all wild speculation on my part. It could be that none of these assumptions are correct, but the only one that I know is that Nintendo has a proven track record with taking Splatoon in unexpected directions.
Splatoon Raiders has no release date now, but will be a Switch 2 exclusive.
