Despite theories and fan fervor, it's been revealed that Splatoon 3 won't be receiving a Big Run event for Halloween this year. This follows the realization that Splatoon 3 also wouldn't be celebrating Halloween with a Splatfest, as it had in prior iterations of the franchise.
Halloween is celebrated by many online games these days, as it's a popular holiday among kids and adults alike. Splatoon 2 got into the spirit with Halloween Splatfests that not only celebrated the holiday, but also added special Halloween cosmetics for Splatoon 2 players to wear during and following the event.
Recently, a Splatoon 3 update was released, and that is how data miners have discovered that Big Run isn't coming on Halloween. Unfortunately, according to dataminer OatmealDome, it seems that the data necessary to hold the Big Run event is still incomplete in the game's files. While some assets have been added to the game, like a skybox file that makes the sky look eerie and red, OatmealDome states that stage data and news dialogue from Deep Cut regarding the event still haven't made an appearance in the game's files. Without this data, it's not possible for Big Run to happen, and as it's extremely unlikely for Nintendo to push an unannounced update in the next couple of days, Big Run more likely than not isn't happening for Halloween.
It's surprising and confusing for fans, as most have become accustomed to seeing Splatfests at least once a month in Splatoon 2 during its supported years. A November Splatfest has already been announced for Splatoon 3, and will land in the second week of the month, which may have put it too close to Halloween for the developers to want to run both. It's possible that the delay is also due to wanting to focus attention on the November Pokemon Splatfest, which happens just prior to the release of the game.
It remains to be seen when the first Big Run event will be held, but with files gradually being added to the game, it stands to reason that it could happen before the end of the year. Splatoon 3 recently launched, and the developers may want to give players more time to get fully accustomed to the title before a brand-new event occurs. Thankfully, there are plenty of other games that are featuring spooky Halloween events, but the Inklings and Octolings of Splatoon 3 will have to wait until 2023 to see if the devs throw a Halloween bash.
Splatoon 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch.
