Nintendo Signals Splatoon 4 Is Coming in Ask the Developer Interview

The Quote That Started the Conversation

Nintendo just launched Splatoon Raiders, a new spin-off for Switch 2 that trades the series’ signature competitive turf battles for a more solitary, action-focused experience. That decision raised an obvious question among fans: if not Raiders, then when does Splatoon 4 show up?

The answer, while not spelled out word for word, is basically “it’s coming.” In a new “Ask the Developer” interview published on Nintendo’s site, series producer Seita Inoue explained the reasoning behind making Raiders a spin-off rather than the next numbered entry. His phrasing left very little to the imagination.

“We’ve been going full speed ahead for over 11 years since the series’ launch, developing and updating three titles along the way,” Inoue said, as reported by Nintendo Life. “We thought it might be interesting to create something with a slightly different approach to gameplay, where you can really savor the action on your own.”

He went on to say that non-competitive modes like Salmon Run and single-player Story Mode have always been part of Splatoon’s identity, and that Raiders was built to spotlight those elements as a standalone experience rather than a secondary feature. Then came the key sentence: “That said, we will continue to develop competitive gameplay going forward. That’s why we developed this game as a spin-off and not as ‘Splatoon 4’.”

That’s not a confirmation in the traditional sense. Nintendo did not announce a game, show a trailer, or give a release window. But Inoue is essentially telling fans that the mainline slot is being held open on purpose, because competitive Splatoon still has a future.

Why the Series Can Support Both

The business case for a fourth mainline entry is not hard to make. Splatoon 3 sold over 3 million units in its first three days on sale, according to Nintendo Life, and went on to move close to 12 million units over its lifetime. The series has built a particularly fervent fanbase in Japan, and its colorful aesthetic and accessible competitive structure have kept it relevant across three console generations.

The logic behind Raiders also makes sense on its own terms. After three competitive-first mainline games, Nintendo spotted an audience who bounced off Turf War but loved the vibes, the characters, and the ink-soaked world. Building a whole game around single-player and co-op play, rather than tucking those modes behind a multiplayer lobby, is a reasonable way to grow the audience before Splatoon 4 eventually asks everyone to compete again.

It is a tidy structure, honestly. Raiders serves the players who want to experience Inkopolis on their own terms. Splatoon 4, when it arrives, will be there for the competitive crowd who never needed convincing.

What Fans Are Actually Hoping For

Readers responding to the Nintendo Life report were largely unsurprised but still enthusiastic. A few comments floated the hope that Splatoon 4 might bring back content from the original 2015 Wii U game, while others wondered whether the mainline sequel would include a full single-player campaign or lean entirely into multiplayer.

Those are exactly the kinds of questions Nintendo will not be answering for a while. The company has a long track record of letting its franchises breathe between entries, and with Splatoon Raiders freshly launched, there is no reason to expect any Splatoon 4 news in the near term.

Still, Inoue’s statement does something useful. It draws a clear line between what Raiders is and what it is not, and in doing so it confirms that the line being drawn is specifically to protect the future of mainline Splatoon. For a series that has been running hard for more than a decade, that kind of deliberate pacing suggests Nintendo knows exactly where it wants to take the ink next.