Big Run is a limited-time event in Splatoon 3 where the Salmon Run gamemode is played on the Stages used for Turf War and Anarchy Battle.
First announced prior to Splatoon 3's release, the gamemode was absent at launch and has since been announced as part of the Chill Season update[1], being confirmed to happen in the month of December 2022. The exact mechanics of how often, which stages, which weapons and what rewards are as yet unknown; however, the announcement trailers have suggested it to occur every few months like Splatfests and have featured Wahoo World as a playable map. The following Big Runs that introduced Horrorboros and that did not introduce a new King Salmonid took place at Inkblot Art Academy and Undertow Spillway respectively. The next one took place at Um'ami Ruins at the same time Splatsville was preparing for the next Splatfest, so Deep Cut's floats and Splatsville were being prepared at the same time of the Big Run. A very rare occurrence. The next one was at Barnacle & Dime and introduced a new King Salmonid in the Megalodontia. The one that followed for the first season of 2024 takes place at Eeltail Alley, and would be the first one to have Inkopolis Square available to visit during a Big Run if already unlocked after completing Side Order beforehand. The Sizzle Season 2024 did not introduce any new maps, instead, all of the previous maps would be used for the Big Run, and all three King Salmonids would appear for the Extra Wave as the Triumvirate. For the Grand Festival, a Big Run was held on the weekend before it, where players had to defend the Grand Splatlands Bowl from the Salmonids so the Grand Festival could take place the following weekend. To encourage them, Mr. Grizz set a target quota of 7 million Golden Eggs. By the end of the Big Run, the player base collected over 1.5 billion Golden Eggs, over double the needed quota, thus securing the Grand Splatlands Bowl and allowing the Grand Festival preparations to resume so the big Splatfest could be held.
Following the Grand Festival, Nintendo announced that Big Runs would continue in the post-Grand Festival game, despite no more major updates being released, and they have, more or less, been reruns of past Big Runs, allowing players late to the game or having participated in the previous one under the older scoring system another chance to take part and potentially secure a better Locker decoration under the new scoring system, such as if they only got the basic green figurine from the previous Big Run, they now could try to medal for a Bronze, Silver, or Gold version, or even get a second copy of the figurine they won in the previous Big Run if they manage to just as well now as they did in the original Big Run under the new scoring system.
With the Version 6.0.0 update to the game, the Big Run scoring system was permanently set to the following formula for the Locker decoration awarded at the end of the Big Run based on a player's high score:
- 84 Golden Eggs or lower earns the Standard green figurine like the ones bought for redeemed Fish Scales at Grizzco Industries.
- 85 to 109 Golden Eggs earned a Bronze decoration
- 110 to 134 Golden Eggs earned a Silver decoration
- 135 Golden Eggs or higher earned a Gold decoration
Big Runs will also introduce new Grizzco weapons alongside the returning ones from Splatoon 2. Alongside the Grizzco Slosher, Grizzco Blaster, Grizzco Brella, and Grizzco Charger, the new weapons so far include the Grizzco Stringer, Grizzco Splatana, Grizzco Dualies, and the Grizzco Roller.
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