Overwatch stays popular by holding regular events to keep fans excited, and with the holiday season rolling around it’s time for the Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2018 holiday event to begin. The event’s return for this year was announced last week, and since then Blizzard has been teasing us with new skins and features coming to the event.
The update for the Winter Wonderland event is now live, so let the game patch itself and you’ll have full access to the big Overwatch holiday event, along with all the exclusive skins, matches, emotes, and more. But when does the event run to? What’s included in it? What special game modes will be included, and are they new? We’ve got all the answers below.
When Does the Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2018 Holiday Event Run To?
Just like the Winter Wonderland event from last year, Blizzard has revealed that this year’s event will run from December 11 to January 2, 2019. That’s just over three weeks of Overwatch holiday mayhem. And what time does it start? Right now! Yes, Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2018 is now live. Get earning those skins.
Yule have an amazing time!
Overwatch Winter Wonderland begins NOW.
🎄 🎁 ⛄ https://t.co/WdxK8CVvcH pic.twitter.com/RSWxhioVwD
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) December 11, 2018
What Special Events Will Be Running?
Unfortunately, there are no new event game types in Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2018. Instead, there are currently two special game modes running, albeit ones players will have seen before. “Yeti Hunter” returns from last year’s Winter Wonderland, which pits five players as Mei against a special Yeti player, who’s basically a re-skinned Winston. The major difference is that the Yeti player must gather meat, which unlocks his powerful Primal Rage ability, which renders Mei’s freezing powers ineffective and gives him other boosts too. The Mei players get a Yeti Trap which can snare the Yeti in one spot.
The other game mode is “Mei’s Snowball Offensive,” another Mei-based mode, except this time all players play Mei. It takes place on the Versus map Ecopoint: Antartica, and players can only fire snowballs which can are one-hit kills. The Meis have to find snow piles to reload, and the Ultimate is an automatic snowball launcher which allows you to fire continuously. Last Mei standing.
What Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2018 Skins are Available?
Blizzard has been teasing the new skins constantly. The special Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2018 skins are a mix of brand new holiday-themed costumes for various characters, and returning favorites from previous years. The new skins are made up of Legendary and Epic skins, and include:
- “Snowboarder” Zarya (Legendary – 3000 credits)
- “Snow Fox” Lucio (Legendary – 3000 credits)
- “Sugar Plum Fairy” Mercy (Legendary – 3000 credits)
- “Biathlon” Widowmaker (Legendary – 3000 credits)
- “Figure Skater” Symmetra (Legendary – 3000 credits)
- “Krampus” Junkrat (Legendary – 3000 credits)
- “Gift Wrap” Bastion (Epic – 750 credits)
- “Festive” Reinhardt (Epic – 750 credits)
- “Winter” Ashe (Epic – 750 credits)
All the previous Winter Wonderland skins will also be available, including notably “Mei-rry” Mei and “Yeti” Winston, who obviously make up all of the special game modes available in the event (see section above). Other skins include “Rudolph” Roadhog, “Nutcracker” Zenyatta, and “Jingle” Tracer. All older Winter Wonderland skins will be available at a discounted price.
What Other New Features Will Be Added?
For starters, various Overwatch maps have got a holiday-themed makeover. Maps getting the treatment include Black Forest, which is all white and wintry, King’s Row, where all the London holiday lights are up, a gloriously pink and snowy Hanamura, and a highly-decorated version of the ever-popular Blizzard World.
There are four new special Highlight Intros. Wrecking Ball gets a cute hamster-themed nibbling through Christmas Lights intro. Reinhardt throws a massive snowball. Symmetra makes lovely energy snowflakes. Finally, the ever-angry Widowmaker offers a kiss under the mistletoe, before revealing it as a punch to the face instead.
There are seven special Winter Wonderland-themed emotes for characters, with five returning from previous years and two brand new ones for this year. The first new one, called “My Babies,” is for Torbjorn, in his Santa Claus-themed “Santaclad” skin, and he’s surprised by the gift of three cute little baby turrets. The second new emote, called “Paper Stars,” features the ninja assasin Genji getting into the holiday spirit by using his sword skills to carve up a bunch of neat paper decorations.
There will additionally be new Winter Loot Boxes, which contain new skins, emotes, highlights, player icons, sprays, voice lines, and more for the event. You can check out videos and pictures from the Winter Wonderland event, as well as anything we haven’t covered, on the official Overwatch page.
