How to play with friends in Splatoon Raiders

Published Jul 23, 2026, 12:01 AM EDT A bit of multiplayer in your single-player game Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon You can play with friends in Splatoon Raiders' multiplayer, even though Nintendo bills the game as a single-player adventure. However, Raiders never tells you how to go about doing this. The process is similar to how multiplayer works in Splatoon 3, and it has the same big restriction as well: You can't play Splatoon Raiders on local wireless. Below, we explain how to play Splatoon Raiders with friends locally and online. How to play Splatoon Raiders with friends Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon After Splatoon Raiders' introductory missions, you'll have free rein on the team's ship base. You'll see a radio sitting in the corner at the opposite end of the platform that the treasure bot rests on. There's no tutorial or anything directing you to check it out, but this radio is how you start a multiplayer session. Interact with the radio to get started. The first time you do, the game prompts you to choose your nickname, the name by which you'll go in online play. The system automatically pulls the name you used for your Switch 2, but you can change it to whatever you want, so long as it doesn't violate Nintendo's online terms of service. After this, you can pick online wireless or local wireless. Note that local wireless isn't local co-op. Splatoon Raiders doesn't support split-screen play. If you're playing with friends nearby, they'll need their own system and a copy of the game. If you choose online wireless, you can join a room another player created, add friends from your console's friend list, or make your own room and set a password others can use to join. Splatoon Raiders' balance adjusts when you're playing in a party, so expect additional enemies and a generally more chaotic time during raids.