Splatoon 4 Maps Guide — Every Confirmed Stage and How to Play It

Maps make the match. No matter how good your build or how sharp your aim, if you don't understand a map's layout, flow, and key positions, you lose. Here's everything I know about the Splatoon 4 maps shown in trailers and previews, plus how strategies from previous maps carry over.

Eight new maps have been shown so far. The first is Inkopolis Shores, the hub area repurposed as a battle stage. It's a beachfront map with the plaza as the center. The key position is the elevated boardwalk that runs along one side. It gives sightlines to the entire center. If you control the boardwalk, you control the match. Short-range weapons should use the underpass to approach. Chargers want the boardwalk. Rollers should lurk near the staircases leading up to it.

Sushi Express is the conveyor belt stage. Two parallel conveyor belts run from each spawn toward the center. They're slow enough that you can stand on them and be moved, but fast enough to change approach angles. The conveyors are painted by whoever covers them first, giving that team a movement advantage. The key strategy here is to cover the conveyors on your side and deny the enemy theirs. If both teams own one conveyor, the match becomes about who can flank through the central sushi bar area. Splatlings dominate the open center. Dualies benefit from the conveyors because dodge rolls cover more ground in the direction of belt movement.

Scaffold Site is the construction stage. It's a vertical map with three distinct levels connected by ramps and grates. The bottom level has cover from equipment containers. The middle level has partial scaffolding that provides sightlines to the bottom. The top level has narrow walkways and the spawn points. This map heavily favors vertical weapons. Sloshers can hit enemies on different levels. Chargers on the top level can see most of the map but are exposed to enemy fire from the opposite side. The grates on the walkways can be shot through, so Splat Bombs thrown from below can catch campers on top. The most dangerous position on Scaffold Site is the central crane platform accessible only from the middle level ramps, anyone who holds that platform controls the entire middle section.

Coral Reef is a lush underwater-themed stage with a central glass dome that players swim through. The dome is the center, multi-level, with coral structures for cover. The unique mechanic is the glass panels in the dome floor. You can swim under them as a shortcut. The coral formations break LoS in interesting ways. This map plays like a compact arena similar to Walleye Warehouse from previous games. Close-range combat is frequent. Rollers and Brushes do well here. Chargers struggle unless they camp the entrance ramps.

The remaining four new maps have had less trailer time and details are sparse. Neon District appears to be a city street at night with neon signs that light up when inked. Depot looks like a train yard with moving train cars that provide temporary cover. Lagoon is a resort map with shallow water that slows movement. Foundry is an industrial map with narrow corridors and a central furnace area that resembles something from the Octo Expansion.

Returning maps from Splatoon 3 have been confirmed. Inkblot Art Academy returns with modified layout, the center easels are arranged differently, creating new sightlines. MakoMart returns with the shelf layout changed. The key difference in both returning maps is that Nintendo has adjusted chokepoints to be wider in some areas and tighter in others, addressing balance complaints from Splatoon 3's tournament scene.

General map tips that apply across all stages: learn the flank routes on every map. Turf War has set spawns, but Anarchy mode spawns vary by game state. Know where the enemy is likely to approach from based on objective position. Memorize which walls can be inked for climbing. Every map has climbable walls that aren't immediately obvious. In Splatoon, vertical mobility is just as important as horizontal. The player who knows the map's paths wins more matches than the player with better gear.