Nintendo has released Splatoon Raiders, a new spin-off that takes its family-friendly, ink-based shooter series away from competitive online multiplayer and into the looter-shooter genre popularised by games like Destiny and Borderlands. Rather than team-based matches, players take on missions and explore levels solo to earn gear and skills, marking a notable shift for a franchise that built its reputation on approachable competitive play, while retaining the core mechanics that made the series distinctive.

The game keeps Splatoon's signature ink-based traversal and combat, with players switching between humanoid and squid forms to move quickly, heal and refill ammunition, using weapons ranging from Super Soaker-style guns to giant paint rollers. Its story casts the player as a mechanic whose crew, including members of in-universe pop group Deep Cut, crash-lands on a mysterious island chain and must explore it for treasure and a way home. The gameplay loop follows familiar looter-shooter conventions of gearing up at a base, tackling increasingly difficult levels against enemy hordes or to collect resources, and returning with better loot to repeat the cycle.