You better get ready for another marathon session of level grinding; the latest information discovered by data miners digging into Overwatch‘s files appears to have unearthed a new limited-time event headed to Blizzard’s shooter in the near future.
As detailed by Reddit user Venxa (via IGN), a large amount of currently unused assets, including various clips for hero interactions and a Christmas themed Overwatch theme have been found, leading many to the logical conclusion that Loot Boxes will be replaced with Christmas presents at some point in December.
What’s more, evidence of a new ‘Arena Mode’ has come to light, with new announcer lines such as “Now entering the arena” and “Gladiator” spoken by Athena having been found. What exactly the new playlist would offer over existing ones remains to be seen, but it could follow a similar format to that of Blizzard’s CCG Hearthstone.
Of course, none of this is conclusive evidence until Blizzard comes forward to make it official, but it wouldn’t be the first time special events for the shooter have leaked ahead of time. Assuming the rumors to be true, Christmas will follow Halloween and the Summer Olympics as holidays being celebrated by Blizzard, so expect suitably themed skins, sprays and voice lines to come as part and parcel of such a promotion.
Outside of limited-time content, Overwatch‘s latest update saw the arrival of highly anticipated character Sombra as well as several new game modes and new map Ecopoint: Antarctica. Earlier this week, Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan detailed some drastic changes being made to support character Symmetra in an effort to make her more appealing for casual and competitive players alike. How the playerbase receives the changes remains to be seen, but they certainly sound promising.
