Overwatch Anniversary Event Begins On May 19 With Dragoon Mercy Skin

Overwatch’s Anniversary event runs in May of each year, celebrating the launch of the first-person tactical, team based shooter from Blizzard Entertainment. This year the event will be held from May 19 through to June 9. [Update: The update is live, and we've gotten a look at more of the new Overwatch skins you can now get your hands on. Alongside the seasonal loot boxes, there are challenges to complete in the coming weeks for special rewards.]

During this time there will be new limited-time only skins and unlocks for players to earn through loot boxes and participating in matches. One of these is a Masquerade Reaper, which should make the villain even more stealthy and mysterious.

Another is the Huitzilopochtl Zenyatta skin, inspired by ancient Aztec civilization. It's one of the more elaborate designs we've seen for the character, with markings all over the torso and floating orbs.

A Dragoon Mercy skin features a headpiece that resembles a furious dragon, despite Mercy being a healing character.

Older event skins will also be unlocked, with players able to unbox or purchase skins from Halloween, Archives, Christmas, Summer Games, and the Lunar New Year events.

Initially, many details about the event were leaked in the May 12 patch notes, causing information for the Anniversary to show up prematurely. The leak was screen-capped and posted on Twitter before Blizzard could fix the error. Since the leak became public, Blizzard has posted some of the leaked skins on its Twitter account.

This leak named some of the Legendary skins for characters in the event, such as Masquerade Reaper, Little Red Ashe, and Dragoon Mercy. The weekly challenge rewards were also detailed, with Masked Man McCree, Carbon Fiber Sigma, and Fleur de Lis Widowmaker all unlockable upon winning nine matches over the course of a week.

The post also announced that previous seasonal brawls will be available to play in the Arcade, with a different mode rotating in each day over the course of the event.

Following the Anniversary event, Blizzard will be making Competitive Open Queue a permanent fixture once Season 23 begins in July.

Overwatch is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Overwatch’s successor, Overwatch 2 is still in development, with no release date announced as of yet.