Overwatch’s Lunar New Year Event (Year of the Rooster)

It’s great to see Blizzard update Overwatch with so many events, not just from western culture but from other cultures also, just like the Lunar New Year event, which started January 24^th and will end February 13^th. Like Blizzard’s past events there are limited time skins, sprays, poses, icon, voice lines, intros, and emotes. They also added a brand-new capture the flag mode with a new map. These events give players more reason to come back and earn rare skins.

The new capture the flag mode is called, “Capture the Rooster”. Each team will need to capture each other’s flag and bring the opposing flag onto your flag zone, the first team with three captured flags win. Every match is timed at 7 minutes to make matches shorter and if both teams are tied at the end it concludes with a draw. Another thing they added with this mode is the map. This map is in China and is played in Lijiang Town at Lijiang Garden. Esthetically, the map is true to the Chinese New Year celebration, any fireworks that are hit goes off with a satisfying bang.

This mode gives so many opportunities for other heroes to shine. For example, Reaper can get to one end of the map to the other without being seen, this gives you some time to capture the flag and rush back to your base, this is just one example to use heroes differently.

Playing capture the rooster is fun and all but the reason players come back are for the skins and highlight intros. Now with the added feature of Arcade mode and the reward system it makes gaining loot boxes easier.

When the event went live, everyone saw all the amazing skins, but one hero looked a little bit different. Mei is the talk of this event because her Chinese New Year skin makes her look thinner. Blizzard has said they have fixed the bug and will be added to a patch. This event has 100 new items exclusive to this event.

This Chinese New Year Event is great and it’s great to see Blizzard consider events that relate to more than just the western audience. Hopefully, Blizzard can integrate other big real world events and add them Overwatch. We need those skins! Don’t forget, the Chinese New Year Event will only last until February 13th, so make sure to give it a shot and test your luck.

What are you most looking forward to in the Lunar New Year Event? Let us know in the comments below.