“Will Splatoon 4 Even Sell?” — 5ch Split Over Spin-off ‘Raiders’

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The story

On 5ch’s Hardware & Industry board (Geha), a thread voicing sales concerns over the as-yet-unannounced Splatoon 4 has taken off. The spark was the assessment that “Raiders,” the Splatoon 3 spin-off, amounted to little more than an expanded Salmon Run mode. Using that as evidence, some posters argued the main series was “bound to hit a wall too,” and the thread filled up with posts looking back at how the series changed from 1 to 2 to 3. Others pushed back, calling it premature to judge the main series by a spin-off’s quality, while still more voiced nostalgia for the first game’s simple gear system or admitted they’d already moved on to Apex Legends or Helldivers 2. In the end, no consensus emerged.

What people said

1AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:16
Splatoon still being a thing… that's really just a Japan thing at this point, huh
2AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:21
Re: #1
Forget about the Switch 2 for a second —
how about doing something to actually help even one of your precious PS5 games sell?
Like, for example, you going out and buying Wolverine.
5AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:23
Re: #2
Already beat Wolverine.
7AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:24
Re: #5
Damn, you're the real deal lol
18AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:28
Re: #5
Got bored of it instantly lol
4AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:22
Splatoon 1: Too much fun
↓
Splatoon 2: Wait, didn't the graphics get worse?
↓
Splatoon 3: Hmm? Wasn't 2's matchmaking better? Honestly this could've just been 2's DLC
↓
Raiders: Selling off Salmon Run piecemeal???
↓
Splatoon 4: Huhhh? They just added a squad-based battle royale mode nobody plays?

That's probably how it's gonna go
8AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:24
Re: #4
You mean 'Quinted,' not 'Squad.' (a jokey made-up term implying five-player teams)
9AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:25
AAA shooters like Concord and its siblings have been dying left and right,
so I get why people are desperate for Splatoon to flop too.
12AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:26
Re: #9
I hit S+50 in Splatoon 3's first season,
then X Rank launched in season two, I got to XP 2100, and canceled my online subscription.
The locker customization and Tableturf Battle stuff was garbage, right?
11AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:26
Honestly, I doubt either Splatoon fans or Salmon Run fans are even playing Raiders. One look and it screamed 'boring.'
55AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:01
Re: #11
You clearly have zero eye for games lol
25AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:34
Still playing 3 to this day, and honestly I'd probably keep playing 4 forever too if it came out.
27AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:35
Re: #25
I moved on to Apex.
28AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:36
If it just stayed the same, that'd be fine, but it keeps drifting in a less fun direction.
Charging full price plus a paid online fee for that? Even kids would give up on it.
31AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:40
Re: #28
Yes, yes, exactly that.
They could've left 1 completely untouched and just added new maps, a ranking system,
and more ways to signal teammates beyond just the 'Booyah' callout — that alone would've been enough.
29AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:39
Raiders is just a spin-off,
so you can't really gauge the main series from that.
33AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:41
Re: #29
Still, it at least showed us the direction they're heading in.
34AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:43
Then they should just remake the first game.
36AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:46
Re: #34
2 and 3 basically already are remakes of it.
37AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:46
'Raiders showed its true colors'??
Are you seriously treating it like the main series without even knowing what kind of game Raiders actually is?
39AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:48
Re: #37
I figured they'd do something amazing using the Switch 2's power, but Salmon Run was unchanged —
just the same old beating up Salmonids.
38AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:47
Raiders was such a godlike game, I've got nothing but good vibes for the series blowing up.
42AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:50
Re: #38
If you think Raiders is a godlike game, you'll piss yourself once you play Helldivers 2 lol
53AnonymousOct 19, 2026 20:59
If they'd just kept Splatoon 1's main attack-up gear ability, they wouldn't need to churn out tons of new weapons like in 3 —
even the same weapon could feel distinct and fun.
56AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:01
Re: #53
What kind of 'distinct feel' are you even talking about?
69AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:11
Re: #53
Anyone who thinks a one-hit splash-damage kill from the Nova is 'fun' is kind of… yeah, no.
74AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:16
Re: #53
What 'distinct feel' did Attack Up ever have?
You'd just end up with pseudo-two-shot kills, broken Blasters, or Chargers getting a one-hit quick-charge kill, and it just becomes a mandatory ability regardless.
If you actually knew the game you'd get this.
Don't tell me you thought Attack Up was some kind of pick-your-own-damage-type system?
57AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:02
Re: #54
Strictly speaking FPS and TPS are different, but people use the terms interchangeably anyway.
PUBG, Apex, Fortnite — just calling them all 'FPS' is fine.
66AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:10
Next game should bump up the player count.
Even just adding one more player per side to make it 5v5 would feel fresh.

Re: #57
There's also the term 'shooter,' you know.
58AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:03
Re: #56
Weapons that used to need 3 hits to kill end up only needing 2.
75AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:19
Re: #58
My memory of 1's specs is a bit hazy, but I'm pretty sure the hit-to-kill counts didn't actually change.
88AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:35
Off-topic, but —
how's 'Sopuratoon' doing these days? (likely a jokey garbled stand-in name for a similar game)
90AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:36
Re: #88
I don't think the servers have shut down yet.
109AnonymousOct 19, 2026 22:05
Re: #90
Looked it up — updates stopped last January, so maybe they're just keeping the matchmaking servers running now?
110AnonymousOct 19, 2026 22:06
Re: #109
There are still occasional weapon balance patches, though.
113AnonymousOct 19, 2026 22:07
Re: #109
Oh sorry, I meant Sopuratoon — I haven't even touched that one.
91AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:39
Re: #79
Watching replays, you'll see people just wandering around aimlessly.
94AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:44
Re: #91
Splatoon is honestly a game where, on top of understanding weapon matchups, stage layout, positioning, and the rules,
you also have to read both your own team's and the enemies' skill levels and play around them.
I've got nothing but gratitude for the top players who skillfully use me as bait.
103AnonymousOct 19, 2026 21:57
Re: #91
Aren't they just staring at the map? I do the same thing — glance at the map and shuffle around a bit myself.

Background and Key Points of This Discussion

The thread’s starting premise was the view that “Raiders,” the Splatoon 3 spin-off, amounted to little more than an expanded Salmon Run — and many posts tried to use that to gauge expectations for a fourth mainline entry. It’s worth noting that no official announcement or release window for “Splatoon 4” exists, so the entire discussion is purely speculative. The sticking point was whether Raiders’ quality says anything about the main series’ direction: some argued “it’s just a spin-off, so it’s no indicator,” while others insisted “it showed us where they’re headed.” Posters also traded corrections over finer, half-remembered details, like whether gear abilities actually had any distinct personality or whether hit-to-kill counts changed between entries. One thing readers might misread: the thread-title framing “Raiders showed its true colors” isn’t the thread’s consensus — it’s just one poster’s claim.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware & Industry (Geha)) thread “Splatoon 4 probably won’t sell, right? Raiders showed its true colors and everyone’s surely sick of 1-3 by now“.

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