Some might say Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland event has become as much of a holiday tradition as rewatching Home Alone, choking sipping on eggnog, and debating Die Hard’s status as a Christmas film. If you believe that, then you’ll probably be happy to know the 5th annual event kicks off today. As usual, it comes with a fresh wardrobe of holiday-themed cosmetics just aching to be unlocked.
This year’s event introduces a new arcade brawl, the Freezethaw Elimination. In this 4v4 battle, victory comes when one team is able to completely freeze the other. Getting frozen acts the same as dying, but teammates can thaw each other to get back in the game. It’s like playing freeze tag, but more literal. Freethaw Elimination joins existing arcade brawls Mei’s Snowball Offensive, Yeti Hunt, and Snowball Deathmatch.
New weekly challenges allow players to unlock limited-time player icons, sprays, and, of course, rare skins. You’ll have to win nine games to earn these rewards. Blizzard revealed the three Epic and five Legendary skins up for grabs during the next three weeks:
Epic Skins
Week 1: Elf Junkrat
Week 2: Gingerbread Ana
Week 3: Frosty Roadhog
Legendary Skins
Conductor Reinhardt
Penguin Mei
Ice Empress Moira
Toybot Zenyatta
Lumberjack Torbjorn
Hopefully we’ll be treated to some free loot boxes upon logging it. ‘Tis the season of giving, after all.
Winter Wonderland wraps up on January 5th so remember to schedule some quality “ignore my family” time to hop in and win some skins. Look for it on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. For more on Overwatch, check out why we think the game deserves its own Netflix animated series. In case you missed it, here are the skins Blizzard doled out during this year’s Anniversary, Summer Games and Halloween events.
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