Splatoon Raiders Pre-Loads Dominate Switch 2 eShop Ahead of July 23 Launch
Nintendo Switch 2 owners are already lining up their storage for Splatoon Raiders, and the eShop is showing it: with the single-player-focused spin-off still days from release, pre-load downloads have been enough to push it toward the top of weekly download activity even before a single copy has unlocked. The game launches worldwide on Thursday, July 23, 2026, exclusively on Switch 2, as confirmed on Nintendo’s own product page.
Splatoon Raiders is exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2, and pre-orders are already live on the Nintendo eShop, with three new amiibo — Shiver, Frye, and Big Man in Raiders-themed designs — launching the same day as the game. That pre-order window is the reason the title can already dominate download charts: Nintendo’s storefront tallies pre-load activity toward weekly rankings even ahead of a game’s actual unlock time, a pattern that has repeatedly sent unreleased Switch 2 titles to the top of the charts in past weeks.
Splatoon Raiders Trades Turf Wars for a Solo Treasure Hunt
Unlike the mainline Splatoon games built around competitive multiplayer, Raiders puts players in the boots of a custom Inkling or Octoling working as “the mechanic.” This single-player-focused spin-off puts players at the helm of a mechanic sailing the mysterious Spirhalite Islands in search of treasure, alongside the fan-favourite trio Deep Cut, taking on the role of a mechanic hired by Shiver, Frye, and Big Man to plunder the islands for loot.
The gameplay blends ink-splattering combat against waves of Salmonid enemies with exploration, crafting at a Mechanic Shack aboard your hideout ship, and dungeon-style raids for increasingly rare treasure. Between runs, players return to their hideout ship to upgrade gear, craft gadgets, and plan the next run, with three difficulty settings — Tourist, Raider, and Survivalist — letting players calibrate the challenge, and rideable Stingray mounts appearing in certain battles.
Nintendo’s own storefront description confirms the loop is scalable for groups too: players can join with up to three other players online or via local wireless, calling them in if they need help with a stage, and the game will scale player power automatically to help make sure everyone has a good time. A dedicated amiibo hook rounds out the package — tapping a Splatoon series amiibo figure unlocks stylish fits for the mechanic.
Why Pre-Loads Alone Can Send an Unreleased Game to #1
It’s not unusual for a big first-party Switch 2 exclusive to claim a top eShop chart position before it’s even playable. Nintendo counts pre-purchase revenue toward its weekly download rankings, meaning a heavily anticipated title can outrank games that have been available — and generating actual playtime — for weeks. That’s exactly the dynamic Splatoon Raiders is riding into its July 23 debut, helped along by a marketing push that included a dedicated Direct and Treehouse livestream on June 30 covering the game’s systems in depth.
Australia and New Zealand Wait a Little Longer Than the U.S.
For regional players, timing varies more than usual for a first-party Nintendo release. Though not officially confirmed, those in some areas of the United States are expected to be able to jump in on the late evening of July 22, while those in Australia and New Zealand will have to wait until the afternoon of July 23 local time, based on standard midnight-launch scheduling across time zones. Singapore’s eShop, for comparison, should align with the Japan launch at 1 PM JST on 23 July, working out to around noon SGT — giving a sense of how staggered the rollout will be across the Asia-Pacific region.
Pricing has also settled ahead of launch, with the digital edition set at US$49.99 and the physical edition at US$59.99, though Australian and New Zealand dollar pricing will be confirmed through local eShop listings closer to release.
Denshattack Keeps Its Own Momentum a Week After Launch
While Splatoon Raiders soaks up pre-order attention, another recent Switch 2 exclusive is still finding its footing on the charts after actually launching. Denshattack, from Barcelona-based studio Undercoders and publisher Fireshine Games, arrived on July 15, 2026, as a train-riding trick-and-battle platformer. Nintendo’s own listing frames it as a journey to become a “legendary Denshattacker,” with players racing and grinding from the countryside of Kyushu through the metropolises of Osaka, Tokyo and more, now sealed under domes by Miraidō, venturing across Japan to the snowfields of Hokkaido and beyond.
Denshattack is a Switch 2 exclusive by design rather than circumstance. Studio director David Jaumandreu told Nintendo Everything the team deliberately skipped a Switch 1 version because they “didn’t want to constrain ourselves to a certain set of hardware specs,” knowing that visuals, speed and a constant high framerate were key to the experience they wanted to build. That decision followed a delay from an original June 17 release date to allow the studio extra polish time.
Early impressions have been largely positive. Nintendo Everything’s review described the stage design as the game’s biggest strength, noting “the most important point to make is that this game’s stages are insanely fun,” with the game constantly trying to outdo itself with its set-pieces and an adrenaline rush from combining tricks with fast reactions. The same review flagged a steep learning curve, comparing the onboarding experience to the reviewer’s own history with Sonic Riders as a kid.
Read also: Go-Go Town Launches on Switch and Switch 2, Exiting Early Access With 1.0 Update
Between an ink-splattered island adventure poised to dominate the eShop the moment its clock strikes midnight and a scrappy train-trick indie already carving out its own niche, Switch 2’s July slate is shaping up to be one of the console’s busiest download weeks since launch. For Kiwi and Australian players eyeing Splatoon Raiders specifically, the extra wait until the afternoon of July 23 is a small price for what looks set to be one of the platform’s most distinctive first-party experiments yet.
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