Big Run

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it - there are Salmonids everywhere. Just stay focused on the task at hand, and you'll get through. I hope you had your coffee…"

- Mr. Grizz when a standard wave begins.

Big Run is an event mode in Splatoon 3. The mode was first announced to occur in the Splatoon 3 Nintendo Direct. Big Runs are limited-time events in which Salmonids invade the stages used by Inklings and Octolings for Turf War and Anarchy Battles, allowing players to partake in Salmon Run Next Wave on those stages. Big Runs happen after every 2 Splatfests.

Description
Big Run shifts follow the same pattern as in regular Salmon Run. Four players team up to battle oncoming Salmonids over the course of three waves, splatting Boss Salmonids to acquire Golden Eggs and deposit them in the egg basket. In addition to appearing from the water of the flooded sections of the battle stage, Salmonids can now also spawn from large Gushers that burst open at the start of each normal and low tide wave. After the third wave, a King Salmonid may appear during an Xtrawave. The same rank system is used, with freelance and friend teams both available. The same bonuses are granted, with additional bonuses and superbonuses added to the bar. Additionally, a 1.2x multiplier is applied to Catalog Points earned from shifts during the event.

Three different tide levels can occur on each wave. High tide and low tide take place in the same location on the map, with high tide making certain areas inaccessible, while normal tide moves players to a different location with its own egg basket (on certain stages, high and low tide also use separate baskets). This differs from normal Salmon Run, where high tide and normal tide are played in the same location with the same basket, and low tide has a different location. Big Run features the Known Occurrences of Rush, Fog, The Griller, and The Mothership (Cohock Charge, Goldie Seeking, Mudmouth Eruptions, and Giant Tornado are not available, nor work properly when forced). The Griller also does not occur in Big Run on Undertow Spillway. The possibility of Rush and The Griller is still constrained by the wave's tide level, but each can appear in both playable locations on the map, unlike in normal Salmon Run.

During the event period, Big Run replaces access to regular Salmon Run shifts through the Grizzco lobby, similar to how Splatfest Battles restrict access to non-Splatfest Turf War battles and Anarchy Battles. Normal battles are still available, but the current Big Run stage is unavailable in any rotation until Big Run is over.

At the announcement and starting times of Big Run, a warning and recruitment message is delivered by Deep Cut during the Anarchy Splatcast. During the event, the skies of Splatsville and Inkopolis Plaza become dark pink and filled with storm clouds, with Grizzco helicopters flying overhead, and the background music is changed to an eerier tune played on violin (for Splatsville) or a synthesizer (for Inkopolis Plaza), and various noises coming from Salmonids can be heard. Inside Grizzco Industries, a warning light flashes, and the usual Grizzco lobby music is replaced by Bait and Click (Mutation), performed by ω-3. When playing a shift, the battle stage's sky takes on the same appearance, and Bait & Click plays instead of Frantic Aspic (other songs play as normal). Additionally, the music for all Anarchy Splatcasts during the event is replaced with a Grizzco Industries remix.

Rewards
At the end of each Big Run event, exclusive locker decorations are awarded based on the highest team-wide Golden Egg total the player achieved in any one shift. Each Big Run has three fixed tiers of scores to aim for, and these tiers are announced at the start of a Big Run during the Anarchy Splatcast. Players who do not meet any of the score thresholds still receive a basic version of the decoration for participating in at least one shift.

Prior to version 6.0.0, scores were instead ranked relative to the high scores of all participating players, with the different decorations awarded to players whose high score was in the top 5%, top 20%, top 50%, or bottom 50% (participation) of scores.

Additionally, starting from version 4.0.0, Big Run participants receive double fish scales after an Xtrawave. 

Badges
Badges are available for reaching each tier of high score in any Big Run event.

Quotes
"SRL Fashion Desk here! With the Big Run tomorrow, we wanted to let you know that you can earn a special Big Run badge for your Splashtag! You just need a top high score on a single shift—no fancy job title required. And if you don't get it this time, you can try again next time."

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

""Big Run" is a phenomenon where salmon rush to the area where the squid live. It is rumored that it occurs once every few months. During the Big Run, the stage you usually use in battle will be the stage of your part-time job."

- @SplatoonJP on Twitter

"Welcome to Grizzco Industries. And congrats on making the kind of sound business decision that future you will no doubt appreciate. I take it my advertisements for help with the orange have been effective. We are... somewhat short-staffed at the moment. You've come at just the right time!

You... are aware of the orange phenomenon, yes? Where Salmonids stray far from their own turf and invade our city? It is business critical that we prevent the Salmonids from damaging the city. Stopping them is no small task, but Grizzco employees are willing to risk it all. The primary objective of stopping the Salmonids just so happens to dovetail nicely with our core business model -- collecting Golden Eggs. It's all about synergy!

Now, we at Grizzco recognize the risk associated with this challenging task. That's why we're orange for all surviv-- Um... for all top producers. We've even prepared a orange for everyone, regardless of job performance. For more details, just press when you're talking to me before a job.

This has been productive. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with this opportunity. Good luck!"

- Mr. Grizz, when entering Grizzco Industries for the first time during a Big Run

Trivia

 * During the initial Big Run reveal, the sky in the footage was a dark red, matching the appearance of the sky during an Xtrawave. This was most likely a placeholder, as the sky was changed to pink in the second trailer.
 * In the background of a promotional image for Wahoo World, the "seven rings" mentioned in Splatoon 2's Sunken Scroll 17 can be seen in the sky, above an island. Strangely, this detail is not present in game, though the lights coming from the seven rings are still visible. The rings are much closer to the stage and more visible at Um'ami Ruins.
 * The Sunken Scroll's illustration also appears briefly in the Chill Season 2022 announcement trailer for a few frames at the beginning of the Big Run segment.
 * Players do not have to reach Level 4 to participate in Big Run, unlike normal Salmon Run. This is seen in the stage schedule in SplatNet 3, where it shows a banner reading, "Big Run happening now! Grizzco hiring ANYONE!"
 * The Golden Egg total from a shift will count for the player's high score even if the team fails to complete all three waves, with Mr. Grizz indicating that he cares about the Golden Eggs more than he cares whether Splatsville is successfully defended from the Salmonid invasion.
 * Out of all Big Runs, the third one (Undertow Spillway) is the only one that did not introduce a new gameplay mechanic. The first one (Wahoo World) debuted the mode as a whole, the second one (Inkblot Art Academy) introduced the Horrorboros, the fourth one (Um'ami Ruins) debuted the Grizzco Dualies, and the fifth one (Barnacle & Dime) debuted the Megalodontia. It is also the only Big Run where The Griller could not occur.
 * However, it is the first instance of a Big Run where the King Salmonid is random.
 * During the third Big Run at Undertow Spillway, the lighting on the inside of the helicopter was incorrectly applied, causing a small strip at the bottom of the screen to always appear fully lit.
 * Dataminers have uncovered the number of accounts that participated in the first three Big Runs.
 * For the first Big Run at Wahoo World, there were 2,869,022 registered accounts.
 * For the second Big Run at Inkblot Art Academy, there were 2,766,896 registered accounts.
 * For the third Big Run at Undertow Spillway, there were 1,853,657 registered accounts.