It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Overwatch: the Winter Wonderland event. Snow’s been dusted over a few of Overwatch’s maps and heroes are decked out in their holiday best. (Except for Krampus Junkrat, a new outfit for this year—he’s just terrifying.)
The Winter Wonderland event has begun, and will continue through Jan. 2. For those three weeks, Overwatch players will be able to unlock the new skins that have been revealed over the past week and play in two seasonal brawls: Mei’s Snowball Offensive and Yeti Hunt.
Related: Junkrat’s new holiday skin turns him into a half-goat, half-demon Krampus
Likewise, Overwatch players will be able to unlock older cosmetics at a discounted price or inside the game’s loot boxes. Overwatch maps Hanamura, King’s Row, and Blizzard World—the latter of which is new for the season—have been decked out with seasonal decorations designed to bring holiday cheer into even the most frustrating of competitive matches.
There aren’t any new playable elements in Winter Wonderland 2018, but that’s expected. Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan said earlier this year that the Overwatch team is focused elsewhere, opting out of new brawls when the old ones are already pretty good. New cosmetics are a given—it’s what everyone looks forward to.
Kaplan posted to the Overwatch forum last night to talk about the new focus for the team. Most of the work is secret, he said. But fans should expect new features and game modes down the road, but likely pretty far down there.
