After four years of quiet, Splatoon returns on July 23, but not as Splatoon 4. Splatoon Raiders is a spin-off: a single-player treasure-hunting adventure with optional co-op for up to four players.
It’s a notable pivot for a series built almost entirely on competitive multiplayer. The single-player campaigns were always Splatoon’s secret best part, Raiders is Nintendo betting a whole game on it.
The PlayTheory take: spin-offs are where Nintendo experiments before committing. If Raiders lands, expect its ideas, structure, traversal, co-op design, to shape Splatoon 4.