Splatoon 3 introduces new King Salmonid with March’s Big Run announcement

Splatoon 3’s monthly limited time events bring new content and aesthetic changes to Splatsville, the new hub world. January and February featured two Splatfests⁠—events that take over the multiplayer maps with three overarching themes to represent and fight over. 

Now, in March, Splatoon is bringing back an event that hasn’t been featured for over four months.

The official Splatoon North America Twitter account announced the dates of the second Big Run in Splatoon 3, starting March 3. The event features the Horrorboros, a new King Salmonid who will be the Xtrawave’s boss for the span of Big Run.

Big Run is a limited-time takeover of Splatoon 3, invading the main hub world of the Splatlands, alongside select multiplayer maps. While normal Salmon Run matches take place on maps exclusive to the game mode, Big Run incorporates multiplayer maps, a first for the series. Previously, Big Run was held on Wahoo World, with the upcoming event featuring Inkblot Art Academy as the staging grounds.

Horrorboros will behave like the Cohozuna, the first King Salmonid introduced to Splatoon 3. By completing all three waves, a King Salmonid has a chance to spawn in, unlocking the Xtrawave, where players have to defeat the boss underneath a time limit, using Golden Eggs as additional firepower instead of depositing them in the basket like the normal game mode. 

Successfully defeating a King Salmonid rewards teams with extra fish scales, which is currency that can be redeemed for Salmon Run exclusive cosmetics, player banners, and locker decorations. Catalog points are also multiplied during the event, incentivising all players to participate during the event.

Players will be able to access Big Run once they climb to level four. They can then enter Grizzco from the hub world lobby or by the menu’s fast-travel feature. Big Run replaces the regular Salmon Run playlist, though friends can still join together for private jobs during the event’s duration.

Past tweets confirmed that Big Run will happen once every few months, so interested players will want to be prepared for when the update drops at 4pm CT on March 3.

Players will have three days to enjoy the festivities, move up on the global leaderboard, and collect all the limited time rewards, including a Horrorboros statue to decorate lockers, until it all wraps up at 4pm CT on March 5.