Overwatch Winter Wonderland returns with an all-Mei Snowball Deathmatch

The Overwatch Winter Wonderland event has returned for another round of festively fatal fun headlined by everyone's favorite Chinese climatologist, Mei. This year's event will feature Snowball Deathmatch, a variation on an old mode, that will pit eight Meis against each other in a race to 15 kills.

Naturally Mei's famed snowball gun is back for the fight, but this year's model features a slight modification for the new mode that enables it to catch incoming snowballs: Doing so successfully not only keeps you from getting smoked in the face with a wad of hard-packed slush, it also adds the snowball to your ammo count.

New icons, sprays, and skins can be earned during each week of the event: Icons for winning three games per week, sprays for winning six, and the big reward, Epic skins for winning at least nine games over each week of the event.

Week 1: Ugly Sweater Soldier: 76

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Week 2: Holly Moira

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Week 3: Snow Angel Mercy

(Image credit: Blizzard)

There are also four new Legendary skins up for grabs—Jotunn Doomfist, Mountain Man McCree, Rat King Reaper, and Rime Sigma—and new player icons and sprays.

The Winter Wonderland also brings back Mei's Snowball Offensive, a 6v6 all-Mei snowball fight, and Yeti Hunter, an asymmetric mode that pits five Meis against one raging Yeti Winston, as well as skins, emotes, and intros from previous years, which can be acquired via seasonal loot boxes.

The Overwatch Winter Wonderland event runs until January 2, 2020. Details are up at playoverwatch.com, and you can check out some of the other new cosmetics down below. 

(Image credit: Blizzard)

(Image credit: Blizzard)

(Image credit: Blizzard)

(Image credit: Blizzard)

(Image credit: Blizzard)

(Image credit: Blizzard)

(Image credit: Blizzard)

(Image credit: Blizzard)

(Image credit: Blizzard)
Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.