Poll: Splatoon 3's Raiders-Themed Splatfest Kicks Off This Weekend, Which Team Gets Your Vote?

Laters, Raiders. That's how Nintendo's kicking off the Splatoon 3 Splatfest this weekend, and I have to admit: I respect the casual farewell. It's like they know we're all about to spend three days painting everything in sight and then collapse into a heap of ink-stained exhaustion.

The theme this time is Raiders — which, if you've been following the game's lore at all, is a nice callback to the whole "what even are we fighting for" vibe that Splatoon has always danced around. But honestly? The theme matters less than the energy. A Splatfest is a community event disguised as a competition. It's the closest thing we have to a block party in a world where nobody leaves their house.

I've been thinking about this since the June Direct buried the announcement under Zelda and Xenoblade news. And I get it — those are big games. But Splatfest weekends are where Splatoon becomes something more than a shooter. They're where the game stops being about individual skill and starts being about collective chaos. You're not just playing for yourself. You're playing for your team, your color, your temporary tribe.

Which team gets my vote? I'm going Raiders, and not because I have any deep attachment to the theme. I'm going Raiders because that's the team that, in my experience, attracts the players who actually understand how Splatfest works. The ones who know when to push and when to hold. The ones who've been doing this since the first game on Wii U, back when the whole thing felt like a weird experiment that somehow worked.

Here's the thing about Splatfests that nobody talks about enough: they're a test of social coordination under pressure. And if you've ever played something like Pikmin 3's Bingo Battle — which, let's be honest, is the most stressful multiplayer experience Nintendo has ever designed — you know exactly what I mean. The same skills apply. Resource management. Map awareness. Knowing when to abandon a position because holding it costs more than it's worth.

That connection isn't accidental. Nintendo doesn't design games in a vacuum. The same design philosophy that makes Pikmin's multitasking so intense is the one that makes Splatfest's turf wars so compelling. It's about managing attention. About deciding what to prioritize when everything matters.

For the record, I'm not saying this Splatfest is going to change your life. It's a weekend event in a game that's been out for a while. But if you've never participated in one, or if you've been sitting on the sidelines because you're not sure it's worth the time — try it. Join a team. Paint some turf. Lose a few matches. Win a few more. Feel what it's like to be part of something that's bigger than your individual K/D ratio.

Because that's what Splatfests are really about. Not the prizes. Not the bragging rights. The reminder that games are better when you're playing them with other people, even if those people are just digital strangers who happened to pick the same color as you.

So which team gets your vote? Doesn't matter. Just pick one and show up. The splatfest starts tomorrow, and I'll be there, inkling in hand, ready to contribute my small part to the chaos. See you on the battlefield. Or, as Nintendo put it: laters.