The snowy season returns to Overwatch on Dec. 12 when the Winter Wonderland event launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
The event, detailed in the developer update video below, is free for all players, and comes with a variety of new content. New skins are always a fan favorite, and it sounds like Winter Wonderland will deliver on that front. Game director Jeff Kaplan says the new skins include a Honzo skin previously seen only in the comics, as well as Legendary Skins for Roadhog, Junkrat, and more.
Several of the maps will get decked out for the holidays in “seasonal pass” variations. The Black Forest map will get a new seasonal pass, and last year’s snowy versions of King’s Row and Hanamura will return.
Mei’s Snowball Offensive mode makes a comeback in the Antarctica map and the Black Forest seasonal pass. She also stars in a brand new mode called Mei’s Yeti Hunt. In this mode, five Mei players go up against one Winston player. That might sound unbalanced, but if Winston collects enough meat power-ups, he triggers Primal Rage mode—at which point the tables turn and he gets the upper hand.
Mei’s Yeti Hunt “is not going to last you hundreds of hours and be highly competitive,” Kaplan says in the video. “This is just a fun, lighthearted way to play in the arcade, blow off some steam, earn some loot boxes, and have some fun.”
The Winter Wonderland 2017 event sounds like a fun bundle of updates for Overwatch fans. Log in next week to start collecting the seasonal loot and try out the limited-time modes.