It’s December, and that means two things: lots ofgreat holiday sales on video gamesandOverwatchis getting a new Winter Wonderland event. Winter Wonderland 2019 is now live, which means a ton of new festive cosmetics for players to add to their collections.
Overwatchis also getting a new mini game mode available for the event called Snowball Deathmatch, an 8-player free-for-all deathmatch that will have everyone play as Mei with a modified snowball gun, similar to the one used in Mei’s Snowball Offensive. In this game mode, Mei will gain a new ability called “Catch,” which will allow players to catch an enemy snowball and add it to their own ammunition. The first player to get 15 eliminations wins.
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Of course, everyone knows the real point of anyOverwatchevent is to collectall the greatOverwatchskins on offer, and the ones available this year are sure to make any fan feel jolly. Four of the skins are Legendary and can be opened in loot boxes or purchased with in-game currency. The three other skins are Epic and are earned by completing Weekly Challenges.
The Weekly Challenges are completed by winning nine games, which will unlock limited-time rewards for players. These rewards include player icons, sprays, and the aforementioned Epic skins, with a different skin being on offer each week. During this first week, Ugly Sweater Soldier:76 will be available to unlock. On Week 2 it will be Holly Moira, and on Week 3 it’s Snow Angel Mercy. The Legendary skins that will be available in loot boxes, meanwhile, are Jotunn Doomfist, Mountain Man McCree, Rat King Reaper, and Rime Sigma. Unfortunately, there is noWinter Wonderland skin for Wrecking Ball, which seems like a real missed opportunity.
As always, these skins offer some really amazing reimaginings of the characters fans have come to know. Doomfist, for example, is now a Norse-like Frost Giant, and Sigma straight up just looks like Arthas Menethil after he merged with the Lich King inWarcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Rat King Reaper, meanwhile, looks like he belongs in someMatrix-inspired reimagining ofThe Nutcracker(maybeOverwatch’s creator should try that for his first movie). Soldier:76’s Ugly Sweater, meanwhile, seems appropriate for the character, given that fans have made him into the “Team Dad” ofOverwatch. It’s just a shame he didn’t get a nutcracker skin to go with Reaper’s Rat King.
The new winter-themed sprays are also pretty neat, with some of them referencing the new skins available during the event, like Soldier:76’s Ugly Sweater and Mercy’s Snow Angel skin.
Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland 2019 is now live on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. The event starts today, December 10th, and ends January 2nd.
