The Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year release time varies slightly each year in accordance with the lunar calendar, and the Year of the Rabbit celebrations are finally underway in Blizzard’s acclaimed hero shooter.
Coinciding with the tail end of the Battle for Olympus event, the Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year is the last event on Blizzard’s roadmap prior to Overwatch 2 season 3. If you’re partial to collecting rare and seasonal skins outside of the Overwatch 2 battle pass, this event typically offers some of the most unique and intricate looks for your favourite Overwatch 2 characters. Without further ado, here’s everything on offer in the Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year event, including the Year of the Rabbit challenges you can expect to complete in one of the best free PC games around.
Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year event release time
The Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year release time was at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm GMT on January 17. The event will finish on February 6, 2023, and includes Year of the Rabbit challenges and game modes.
The event was first teased during the Overwatch 2 season 2 trailer, which gave us a glimpse of Echo and Mei kitted out in their featured Lunar New Year skins.
Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year skins
The Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year skins are highly coveted, and we have one new skin debuting for the Year of the Rabbit. The Mei Hu Tou Mao epic skin is available to view in the hero gallery and is available to purchase from the shop for 1,000 Overwatch coins.
On the subject of shop exclusives, a number of skin bundles are available for a limited time as part of the Lunar New Year event, offering you the chance to purchase exclusive skins from previous years.
Overwatch 2 Year of the Rabbit challenges and modes
The Year of the Rabbit challenges and rewards are:
- Lucky Pouch: Complete two challenges in Lunar New Year (Lucky Pouch weapon charm)
- Good Fortune Kkachi: Complete four challenges in Lunar New Year (Echo Kkachi legendary skin)
- Mark of the Rabbit: Win 10 games in Bounty Hunter (Year of the Rabbit spray and 1,000 battle pass XP)
- Sixth Time’s the Charm: Eliminate the bounty target six times (1,000 battle pass XP)
- Lucky Rabbit: Win six games in Capture the Flag or Competitive Capture the Flag (Year of the Rabbit name card and 1,000 battle pass XP)
- Auspicious Victories: Win eight games in Capture the Flag Blitz (Hongbao souvenir and 1,000 battle pass XP)
Catch the Rabbit: Capture the flag in Capture the Flag or Capture the Flag Blitz (1,000 battle pass XP)
These Year of the Rabbit challenges are tied to event-exclusive arcade modes that we’ve seen in previous iterations of the Lunar New Year festivities. You can access these Lunar Brawls from the Arcade menu.
- Bounty Hunter: (6-player FFA) Gain points by killing the target to claim their bounty and become the target yourself. Earn bonus points by killing non-target heroes as the target. The first player to earn 4,000 points wins.
- Capture the Flag Blitz: (5v5) Two teams of give players compete in a fast-paced match to capture the enemy team’s flag while defending their own. Capture six flags to take the match.
- Capture the Flag: (5v5) Two teams of five players compete to capture the enemy team’s flag while defending their own.
Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year Twitch Drops
This year’s Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year event includes Twitch drops that are sure to get the Moira mains out there flocking to their favourite streamers. Watching two hours of an Overwatch 2 stream on Twitch will net you the Moira Lion Roars victory pose, while watching four hours will grant the Moira Mask Dancer legendary skin. Both Twitch drops are live between January 12 to January 26.
That’s everything you need to know about the Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year event and Year of the Rabbit challenges. As the Battle for Olympus begins to wind down, be sure to take a look at our Overwatch 2 tier list as we gear up for season 3. We’ve also got the lowdown on Overwatch 2 Ramattra abilities if you’re still getting to grips with the pragmatic tempo tank.