New Overwatch Christmas Update Adds Skins, Mode As Winter Wonderland Event Goes Live

Blizzard has kicked off Overwatch's celebration of the holidays, bringing back the Winter Wonderland event from last year. This isn't a complete retread, however; while you're again able to access what was available last year, there are also new skins and a limited-time mode to check out, among other things.

As with any new Overwatch event, the skins are the big highlight. When Blizzard announced the event's return recently, it teased that Junkrat and Roadhog would be among those to get Legendary skins, while a "long-awaited Hanzo skin" from the comics would also be included. Others with newly added looks include Sombra and Ana. You can see all the new Overwatch Winter Wonderland skins in our gallery.

This update includes a new, winterized version of Black Forest, along with the returning, holiday-themed versions of King's Row and Hanamura. The Mei's Snowball Offensive Brawl also makes a comeback (and is now playable on the themed Black Forest map), while Blizzard has introduced another new brawl that the studio has compared to a boss fight. Mei's Yeti Hunt sees a team of five Meis compete against one player, who assumes the role of Winston with his Yeti skin. Things play out a lot like Evolve, where the Meis hunt down Winston, who roams the map to find power-ups. Once he collects enough, he enters Primal Rage mode, and the Meis have to flee to avoid being killed. Once enough Meis--or Winston--are killed, the game is over.

In a video, Jeff Kaplan explained that Blizzard wanted to try something "fun and different" with this mode. He said the point is "just to be fun and light and refreshing for a short period of time." As such, Yeti Hunt is not intended to be a perfectly balanced, highly competitive mode. You can queue up for this through standard matchmaking or join a match with five other friends, with the game cycling through who plays as the Yeti. When queuing normally, you can set your preference for Mei or Winston, though given the mode's nature, you won't always get to play on the side you selected.

Winter Wonderlands is available from now until January 1 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It includes all of last year's skins and content, and Blizzard has lowered their costs to make them easier to acquire. Legendary skins from 2016 drop to 1000 credits, Epic to 250, Rare to 75, and Common to 25.