Overwatch recently had its Halloween event this year in Halloween Terror, which brought a host of new modes and content, including skins for Echo and Brigitte.
With Christmas right around the corner, a holiday-themed event is imminent for the hero shooter. In past years, Overwatch players have been graced with the annual Winter Wonderland, which brings a host of new gear, season-themed maps, and skins.
So, what can we expect this year? Here's everything we know so far about the snowy event.
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Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2021 Latest News
16 December 2021 -
Today is the day Overwatch Winter Wonderland starts. We suspect the event will get underway at around 6pm GMT this evening. Stay tuned for a full trailer and possibly a few more reveals.
15 December 2021 -
Loads of new Legendary Overwatch Winter Wonderland Skins have been announced in the past 24 hours, so if you want to take a look at the new skins for Orisa, Genji and D.Va follow the link for a complete list of ALL Overwatch Winter Wonderland Skins released so far.
14 December 2021 -
Overwatch Community Manager AndyB has told players on the Blizzard forums that the Winter Wonderland event has been delayed.
“Because of unforeseen circumstances, we needed to push the start of the event back by just a few days,” he wrote.
“Personal opinion, but the art team really sleighed it with this year’s legendary skins.”
Whilst no official start date has been confirmed, we suspect that it could begin this Thursday, on December 16.
13 December 2021 -
Blizzard still hasn't said anything about the Winter Wonderland 2021 event. We suspect it will start this week and normally we see a few skins teased on social media. But there's been zilch. We suspect we could get a teaser tonight ahead of a slightly later start on Thursday, but if not, except a surprise stealth drop tomorrow on 14 December. If it does begin tomorrow, expect a 6pm GMT or 7pm GMT start time. More to follow (soon we hope!)
6 December 2021 -
Since Blizzard is doing everything in their power not to talk about the 2021 Winter Wonderland Event, we'll just have to share another awesome concept put together by fans. This time, it's another Wrecking Ball skin concept which imagines the plucky hamster as a Christmas Ornament.
3 December 2021 -
As the annual Winter Wonderland event for Overwatch approaches, Dexerto has spotted yet another Christmas-themed skin concept for D.Va. Courtesy of u/amandazerepp on Reddit, they posted a reindeer-like skin for the character, alongside a sleigh designed for her mech.
26 November 2021 -
There's still some time to go before we can expect the new Overwatch Winter Wonderland event to begin, however, if you want to remind yourself of some of the amazing skins that will be coming back, have no fear. We've got a page for that.
Follow the link for a recap of ALL Overwatch Christmas Skins released so far.
23 November 2021 -
An Overwatch Fan has shared a fantastic Wrecking Ball Christmas Skin Concept which is worth a look (on the link above). We'll give you a hint though, Santa's sleigh. No doubt we'll have to wait until much closer to the next event before we discover any of the new skins, likely in the 3 or 4 days preceding the event start date. That said, we'd love to know what other skin ideas you'd like to see from Winter Wonderland 2021.
12 October 2021 -
In the Halloween Terror 2021 trailer, Overwatch's Christmas event has been teased. For a brief second at exactly 1:17; Reinhart, Winston, Wrecking Ball, and Overwatch's version of Santa can be seen in a snow-like environment.
Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2021 Release Date
Winter Wonderland 2020 lasted from December 15th to January 5th, while 2019 went from December 10th to January 2nd. Based on these past events, the start date has never been before December 10th and the end date has never gone further than January 5th.
If we were to expect this year's event to last for the longest time possible, Winter Wonderland 2021 can could run from December 10th and January 5th. However, this is all speculation and should be confirmed soon.
What Is Winter Wonderland?
Winter Wonderland is Overwatch's annual Christmas event. Every year, the festivities offer a host of new skins, brand new modes, seasonal changes to maps, festive loot boxes, and more.
Normally, the event runs for almost four weeks, giving players the chance to celebrate through snowball fights and ice-based elimination matches while showing off their new emotes.
Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2021 Modes
This year's modes are yet to be confirmed however, Winter Wonderland 2020 brought back the fan-favored snowball matches. Given that this mode is one of the most beloved ones, Blizzard might bring it back this year.
Last year also featured Yeti Hunter, through which players hunt down a Yeti powered by Winston's abilities and a 6v6 brawl in Mei's Snowball Offensive. So players could also be greeted to these modes in 2021's season as well.
Every Winter Wonderland normally features the introduction of holiday-themed original mode too, so we look forward to what Blizzard Entertainment comes up with.
Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2021 Skins
With every Winter Wonderland comes Christmas-themed skins. Last year, players were gifted dozens of skins, some of which could be earned through weekly challenges; including Elf Junkrat, Gingerbread Ana, Frosty Roadhog, and more.
The return of these challenges and gear in festive loot boxes is expected this year. But we will update this page when these become available.
Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2021 Map Changes
Wrap up tight through a range of holiday-themed map changes, another exciting aspect expected this year as well.
Locations are updated with twinkly lights, Christmas trees, and lots and lots of snow. These amendments normally replace every map throughout the duration of the event.
Last year, we saw the return of limited time reskins of the King's Row and Hanamura maps, so expect other maps to have a similar feeling.