Updated

Updated · Kotaku · Jul 24

Nintendo Releases Splatoon Raiders on Switch 2, Expanding Splatoon With PvE Co-op

Updated

Updated · Kotaku · Jul 24

Nintendo Releases Splatoon Raiders on Switch 2, Expanding Splatoon With PvE Co-op

Q: How does the revolutionary new gadget system completely break the traditional rules of Splatoon's ink management?

It breaks Splatoon’s usual ink economy by separating gadgets from the main ink tank entirely: in Splatoon Raiders, gadgets do not consume ink at all. That is the major shift. In traditional Splatoon play, players constantly balance shooting, movement, sub-weapons, and survival around a single refillable ink resource. Raiders keeps that core system for weapons and movement—players still need to ink terrain to swim, recover ink, and escape danger—but gadgets operate outside those limits. They are governed by availability or cooldowns rather than ink cost. In practice, that means players are encouraged to use gadgets aggressively and often, instead of saving them for fear of draining their tank. Reports and guides on the game repeatedly stress that players should trigger gadgets “basically any time they are off cooldown,” even when not using a gadget-focused tank. That is a clear departure from the older Splatoon habit of conserving ink for the next fight or retreat. The change also reshapes combat design. Because gadgets are free from ink management, Nintendo can make them central to traversal and offense: dash attacks, turrets, boomerangs, orbiting disks, lasers, vortexes, and other abilities can be layered on top of standard shooting. Combined with tank types such as Speed, Power, and Tactical, the system turns ink management from the sole governing rule into just one part of a broader build-and-cooldown framework.

3 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Jul 24

Splatoon Raiders is now live on Nintendo Switch 2, giving the Splatoon series a dedicated PvE looter-shooter built around junk-strewn islands, repeatable missions and boss fights.
Nintendo leans on mechanics familiar to longtime players—gyro aiming, map control through ink and gadget cooldowns—but the new game pushes them into single-player and co-op progression.
Three ink-tank types, unlockable weapons and mission-specific rewards encourage replay, with tougher encounters designed to be eased by leveling, upgrades and experimenting with different builds.
Co-op lets players clear missions and story content together, while rewards appear to scale by player level, creating an incentive for stronger players to help newer teammates.