There will probably be an 'Overwatch' winter event
Can't wait to see that inevitable Torbjörn-dressed-as-pint-sized-Santa skin.
It looks like Blizzard is planning a winter- or holiday-themed event in Overwatch. It's not a surprise after similar events around the Summer Olympics and Halloween, but informed speculation leveled up to "this is probably happening" with the release of the latest PTR update.
Much of the attention around the update has been focused on the changes to Symmetra, but tech-savvy fans dug through the data and found some other surprises. Along with new character interactions and sound effects, there's a snippet of music with a distinctly Christmas-y feel.
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Listen for yourself:
To be clear: the existence of this music doesn't confirm anything about Blizzard's plans. But there is a pattern here. Similar discoveries were made in advance of the Olympics and Halloween events, so there's a good chance this new music connects to something special in the game.
Will it be a strictly Christmas-focused event? Probably not. Blizzard's cast of Overwatch heroes celebrates diversity, and in that same spirit it's unlikely an in-game event would favor just one segment of the audience.
That said, all there is to go on right now is a short piece of music. Let your imaginations run wild, Overwatch fans. Based on past events, there's a good chance we'll hear more about this very soon.
Also among the discoveries were a few voice samples of Athena, the game's announcer, referring to what could be a new game mode. One line refers to entering an "arena" and two others mention "challenger" and "gladiator."
The Olympics and Halloween events both featured limited-time game modes: a Rocket League-inspired Lúcio-only competition called "Lúcioball" for the former and a cooperative survival mode set around a spooky castle for the latter.
If the music suggests we're getting a winter event, then the Athena voice samples could point to that event's special mode. Or it could just be a new addition to Overwatch's Arcade, which was added in a recent update.
Go check out the discoveries for yourself on Reddit.
Topics Blizzard Entertainment Esports Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
