Splatoon Raiders Surges to UK No. 1 in Days After Launch

The week’s UK software sales charts are often a snapshot of what players are really choosing right now—and Splatoon Raiders just turned that spotlight on itself. Days after launch, the Switch 2 single-player spin-off climbed to the top spot for the week ending July 25, signaling that Nintendo’s latest direction for the franchise is landing with audiences.

A fast climb to the top of the UK charts

Just days after Splatoon Raiders released on July 23, it reached No. 1 on the UK software sales chart for the week ending July 25, 2026. The chart placement is notable not only for its speed, but for what it displaced: the previous weekly top spot holder, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.

While the franchise is widely associated with competitive multiplayer, Splatoon Raiders is an early example of how Nintendo can broaden the brand’s appeal. The game’s presence on sales charts so soon after launch suggests that players are willing to follow the series into a new format rather than limiting expectations to the traditional multiplayer loop.

From competitive shooter roots to a treasure-hunting adventure

Splatoon Raiders arrived with a surprise reveal through the Nintendo Today app, and it immediately set itself apart by moving away from the franchise’s familiar competitive structure. The story frames the Deep Cut trio as stranded on a mysterious island chain after a helicopter crash. From there, players land on the Spirhalite Islands and team up with Deep Cut to search for treasure.

The source also emphasizes that the game is primarily structured as a single-player experience, marking a major stylistic shift for a series best known for multiplayer battles. Despite that pivot, early momentum appears strong enough to translate into chart performance, implying the new adventure framework is finding traction.

What else is selling in the UK—and why it matters

Splatoon Raiders isn’t the only Nintendo Switch exclusive drawing attention on the UK chart. Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream remains in the top 5, climbing to No. 3 from the previous week. Pokémon Pokopia holds at No. 6, while Star Fox appears at No. 15. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe also continues to sell steadily, still present in the Top 20 long after its original Switch debut and even after the arrival of a successor.

The report only confirms UK sales information and doesn’t provide details for other regions, but the early UK results are still a meaningful indicator for Nintendo. The source notes that critics have praised core gameplay elements such as loot-focused moment-to-moment action and fights against Salmonid enemies, along with the game’s mission structure, progression systems, and its reinvention of shooting compared to mainline entries.

Next steps: keeping competitive alive while experimenting

When Splatoon Raiders was first announced, the shift toward a single-player spin-off surprised many fans. The game’s producer, Seita Inoue, addressed the change by explaining that the team had spent 11 years working nonstop on three mainline games, making the opportunity to try something different both intriguing and appealing.

At the same time, Inoue indicated that competitive gameplay remains of interest, and the team plans to continue developing it going forward. For many fans, that’s been read as a pathway back toward future competitive-focused work for the franchise.

Key points

• Splatoon Raiders reached No. 1 on the UK software chart for the week ending July 25, 2026.
• The single-player focused spin-off released July 23 and climbed to the top in under a week.
• The game shifts the franchise toward a treasure-hunting island adventure with Deep Cut at the center.
• Nintendo has signaled ongoing interest in competitive gameplay alongside future experimentation.

Confirmed chart snapshot (UK)

Expert View

Splatoon Raiders topping the UK chart so quickly is a strong signal that Nintendo’s willingness to experiment with format can still produce mainstream demand. For the competitive Splatoon community, the key takeaway isn’t that multiplayer is disappearing—it’s that Nintendo can test new structures without losing market momentum. If early chart performance matches continued player engagement, the franchise could end up with a wider ecosystem: single-player adventures for newcomers alongside ongoing development for competitive play.