Splatoon Raiders, Nintendo’s latest entry in the long-running Splatoon franchise and a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, has received a notably warm reception from players, placing it among the highest user-rated entries on Metacritic.
The Splatoon series, developed by Nintendo EPD, began with Splatoon on Wii U in 2015 and continued with Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch, 2017) and Splatoon 3 (Nintendo Switch, 2022); Raiders represents the franchise’s newest direction on Nintendo’s current hardware.
Early user reaction and Metacritic placement
According to coverage from Kotaku, Splatoon Raiders is sitting in the top 10 of Metacritic’s highest user-rated games of all time.
At the time of reporting, the game held a 9.3/10 user score on Metacritic based on more than 700 user ratings, placing it seventh on that particular leaderboard.
Kotaku also noted that, by user score, Raiders ranked as the top user-rated Nintendo game on Metacritic and was the second highest-rated release of 2026 behind Resident Evil Requiem.
Reception highlights from Nintendo Life
Nintendo Life’s community polling and review coverage has echoed the positive reception.
A Nintendo Life reader poll reported nearly half of respondents rated Splatoon Raiders at 9/10, with roughly a quarter of respondents awarding a perfect score.
Nintendo Life’s own review scored the game 9/10, praising the technical performance and accessibility of its content.
In journalistic terms, Nintendo Life concluded that the title delivers strong visuals and smooth performance, extensive friend-and-family-friendly cooperative options, and notable value for its price, calling it a near-essential play for a broad audience.
A different focus for the franchise
Multiple outlets have observed that Splatoon Raiders shifts emphasis away from the series’ core competitive multiplayer and toward a single-player and cooperative experience.
That change in design has been central to much of the discourse around the release and appears to have been well received by players who prefer a single-player or cooperative approach to Splatoon-style gameplay.
What this means for Nintendo and the franchise
The early user-score momentum positions Splatoon Raiders as a successful launch title for the Switch 2 in the eyes of the community.
Verified metrics cited by media outlets like Kotaku and Nintendo Life underline the title’s strong initial player endorsement, while the broader Splatoon franchise history—developed by Nintendo EPD and evolving across Nintendo’s platforms—provides the context for why this release is being watched closely by both fans and industry observers.
The Splatoon series, developed by Nintendo EPD, began with Splatoon on Wii U in 2015 and continued with Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch, 2017) and Splatoon 3 (Nintendo Switch, 2022); Raiders represents the franchise’s newest direction on Nintendo’s current hardware.
Early user reaction and Metacritic placement
According to coverage from Kotaku, Splatoon Raiders is sitting in the top 10 of Metacritic’s highest user-rated games of all time.
At the time of reporting, the game held a 9.3/10 user score on Metacritic based on more than 700 user ratings, placing it seventh on that particular leaderboard.
Kotaku also noted that, by user score, Raiders ranked as the top user-rated Nintendo game on Metacritic and was the second highest-rated release of 2026 behind Resident Evil Requiem.
Reception highlights from Nintendo Life
Nintendo Life’s community polling and review coverage has echoed the positive reception.
A Nintendo Life reader poll reported nearly half of respondents rated Splatoon Raiders at 9/10, with roughly a quarter of respondents awarding a perfect score.
Nintendo Life’s own review scored the game 9/10, praising the technical performance and accessibility of its content.
In journalistic terms, Nintendo Life concluded that the title delivers strong visuals and smooth performance, extensive friend-and-family-friendly cooperative options, and notable value for its price, calling it a near-essential play for a broad audience.
A different focus for the franchise
Multiple outlets have observed that Splatoon Raiders shifts emphasis away from the series’ core competitive multiplayer and toward a single-player and cooperative experience.
That change in design has been central to much of the discourse around the release and appears to have been well received by players who prefer a single-player or cooperative approach to Splatoon-style gameplay.
What this means for Nintendo and the franchise
The early user-score momentum positions Splatoon Raiders as a successful launch title for the Switch 2 in the eyes of the community.
Verified metrics cited by media outlets like Kotaku and Nintendo Life underline the title’s strong initial player endorsement, while the broader Splatoon franchise history—developed by Nintendo EPD and evolving across Nintendo’s platforms—provides the context for why this release is being watched closely by both fans and industry observers.
