With the Lunar New Year just over a week away, plenty of ongoing games will soon release content to ring in the holiday, and 2022's Year of the Tiger is sure to bring plenty of tiger-themed cosmetics. Last year's Year of the Ox celebration saw a variety of Chinese-inspired cosmetics coming to games, with Watch Dogs: Legion adding a plethora of outfits during last year's event and Minecraft adding free skins and new content. As one of the biggest shooters in gaming, Overwatch is no stranger to Lunar New Year content, and the game recently announced its 2022 festivities.
Lunar New Year is one of the biggest events of the year for Overwatch, with the game getting festive skins and new game modes every January. Last year's Year of the Ox event saw the popular hero shooter add new skins like a bull-themed look for Orisa, while a variant of the Lijiang Tower map was playable. With 2022's Lunar New Year only nine days away, Blizzard has officially revealed the start date for 2022's Year of the Tiger event.
The short teaser trailer uploaded to the official Overwatch Twitter account on Sunday shows off a variety of 3D animated Chinese cuisine prepared for the event before landing on the official reveal of the event's timeframe. Overwatch's Year of the Tiger event will officially begin in just two days, with the start date being Tuesday, January 25. It will run for three weeks, ending just after Valentine's Day on February 15. While no details were revealed on new game modes or skins, more reveals about Overwatch's new holiday content will likely come over the next few days.
Past Lunar New Year events have often re-run the popular 'Capture the Flag' limited-time game mode alongside redesigned maps with red and gold to ring in the popular Chinese holiday. The events also tend to feature a plethora of new skins, with 2021's event featuring eight skins and 2020's Year of the Rat event adding seven skins to the game. These will likely be split between epic skins unlocked through weekly challenges and legendary skins found in lootboxes or purchased with credits.
Outside of this event announcement, Overwatch has been a major subject of discussion due to the monumental purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft early last week. Several developers working on Overwatch and its upcoming sequel, Overwatch 2, have come out in the past week to accuse CEO Bobby Kotick of fostering a toxic work environment and contributing to Overwatch 2's frequent delays. With Blizzard previously announcing that the Overwatch League's return in April will feature an early build of Overwatch 2, the Microsoft acquisition has fans hopeful for the future of Overwatch and its sequel.
Overwatch is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.