Blizzard has put out some new details for the upcoming Lunar New Year events in Overwatch. On Feb. 8, the next seasonal event will hit the game with some new skins, modes and other goodies.
This year’s Lunar New Year event will introduce a brand new map set in Thailand — a map built specifically for Overwatch’s capture the flag mode. The Year of the Dog is the focus this year, so expect a lot of theming around that this year. For example, seasonal skins for Mercy and Widowmaker are on the way according to Director Jeff Kaplan.
Players can expect the new mode to include some rule tweaks and balance adjustments to make it more competitive. The concept of Draws is being removed for the mode and instead is replaced with a Sudden Death stage. If the two teams are tied at the end of normal play; what will happen is both flags are moved toward the center of the map. The game will then reset and begin with that much shorter capture distance. This will turn potential ties into a frantic race for caps on both sides.
Check out the preview update video below:
“This map takes place in Thailand is absolutely gorgeous,” Kaplan said. “One side of the map is ancient and shows some temple that’s very gorgeous and the other side is bright and beautiful and very modern. We think you’ll enjoy it, but the coolest part, in my opinion, is it’s the first map that we’ve ever built specifically for Capture the Flag.”
As previously announced, Overwatch Lunar New Year will celebrate the Year of the Dog in 2018. The previous themed event, Capture the Rooster, centered around the Year of the Rooster in a new Arcade Mode. That custom mode was originally added as a regular mode, maybe that will be the case for this new event as well.
A new mode and events aren’t the only news for Overwatch this week.
One of the Overwatch Pro League teams, specifically the Shanghai Dragons, may apparently sign the first female Overwatch pro. This idea involves Zarya phenom Kim “Geguri” Se-yeon who recently said in a Twitch stream that she’s accepted an offer from a “foreign” team. It’s not official yet, and she may instead spend some time in the Contender’s League with another team before jumping up to the “majors”, we’ll just have to wait and see. I for one hope everything works out and that this signals more diverse people being part of the Pro League.
