Splatoon Raiders players can unlock special DLC in Splatoon 3 completely for free, though the announcement has left many in the community a little confused for the time being. While franchise fans continue to wait for news regarding a multiplayer-focused sequel, Splatoon Raiders has quickly become a big hit for Nintendo and Switch 2 owners.
Originally announced in 2025 through the Nintendo Today mobile app, Splatoon Raiders represented a major shake-up for the franchise. While the core games have revolved around multiplayer gameplay, Splatoon Raiders went in the opposite direction to focus on a pure single-player campaign experience, with a co-op element as well. Following stellar review scores for Splatoon Raiders, the game quickly rocketed up sales charts, proving that the IP can be more than just a paint-splashing multiplayer game. To help celebrate the success, Nintendo is releasing free DLC for Splatoon 3 for those who have already completed the Raiders campaign.
Splatoon Raiders Free DLC for Splatoon 3
In a new announcement on social media, the official Splatoon account confirmed that the Plastic-Bottle Shot Replica is coming to Splatoon 3 as free DLC. In order to unlock it, players will not only need to have save data from Splatoon Raiders but to also have completed the game’s campaign. With those requirements met and Update 11.3 downloaded, players can grab the weapon from the lobby terminal in-game.
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Guess the games from the emojis.
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However, the announcement has left more than a few players a bit confused. The wording of the post says players will need to first update Splatoon 3 to version 11.3, implying that it is currently available. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case, as there’s no official word from the account or even from the Nintendo Support website, which still lists Splatoon 3 to be on version 11.2, which originally came out back in June 2026. Responses to the announcement have been met with confusion as many are wondering why announce the DLC when one of the requirements to unlock it isn’t even available at the time of publication.
Regardless, the news that Splatoon 3 is getting any sort of new content should be exciting for fans. While it still receives periodic updates and an occasional seasonal Splat Fest event, Nintendo previously announced the end of regular Splatoon 3 updates back in 2024. Originally launching back in 2022, Nintendo kept the game constantly supported over the course of 2 years with fixes and new content, including a dedicated single-player expansion called Side Order. Following that run, things slowed down considerably, with Nintendo likely to have pivoted full time to the then unknown Splatoon Raiders.
In terms of the future of the franchise, Nintendo appears to be well aware that many fans still want some sort of competitive element to future games. While Nintendo hasn’t publicly announced Splatoon 4, a previous Q&A session with Splatoon Raiders producer, Seita Inoue, highlighted that the development team is keenly aware of fans’ love for competitive gameplay. This reason alone is largely why Splatoon Raiders is considered a spin-off and not a true sequel to the previous mainline titles. Ultimately, the team wanted to try something a bit different after having been “full speed ahead” for 11 years on 3 core games, leading to gameplay in Splatoon Raiders that allowed players to experience the action on their own.
- Released
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July 23, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
