Splatoon Raiders Release Date Announcement Appears Imminent

A subtle update to the Splatoon Raiders trademark indicates more information on the game will be unveiled soon – with a release date announcement seeming likely. The Switch 2-exclusive spin-off was announced quietly last June; it didn’t even get its own trailer, coming alongside news of the Splatoon 3 Switch 2 update.

Splatoon Raiders has been radio silent since its announcement, but that appears set to change in the coming weeks. The Splatoon Raiders trademark has been updated to include a new publication date of February 17, 2026, according to Mike Odyssey on Twitter. It’s impossible to know for sure what Nintendo has planned, but the most likely scenarios for that date seem to be Splatoon Raiders‘ inclusion in a Nintendo Direct, an announcement regarding the game via the Nintendo Today app, or a new standalone trailer.

Splatoon Raiders Trademark Updated With Mysterious Publication Date

As Mike Odyssey notes, everything regarding this trademark update for Splatoon Raiders is purely speculation. The implication is that there is information in the trademark that has not been made public previously, thus suggesting Nintendo is preparing to reveal more about Splatoon Raiders on February 17, when the trademark is published. It’s also notable that February 17, 2021, was when Splatoon 3 was first unveiled five years ago.

Announcing a release date for Splatoon Raiders isn’t out of the question, and it seems to fit nicely within Nintendo’s known 2026 slate. Mario Tennis Fever is coming in February, the slightly unnerving Pokémon Pokopia is set for March, and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is filling the April gap. Nintendo’s usual strategy is to release one first-party-published game a month, and with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on schedule for an early 2026 release window, that leaves either May or June left open for the first half of the year.

We Still Know Very Little About Splatoon Raiders

As a spin-off, Splatoon Raiders receiving a release date with such a short marketing run-up wouldn’t be absurd, but it still feels like an odd possibility given how little we know about the game. Its narrative premise sees the protagonist, known only as the Mechanic, crash-landing on the Spirhalite Islands (a new location for the series) with the three members of Deep Cut, the idol pop group introduced in Splatoon 3. Splatoon Raiders appears to feature its predecessors’ third-person shooter gameplay, but any details beyond that are unknown.

Rumors are starting to pick up about upcoming Nintendo Directs, but there has been nothing concrete so far, since Nintendo typically announces the broadcasts just a day ahead of time. This Splatoon Raiders trademark update indicates that something may be coming, but it’s impossible to know what exactly. If Nintendo is indeed trying to fill out its slate for the first half of 2026, a Splatoon Raiders release date announcement may be coming in two weeks’ time.