Blizzard Goes Live With Overwatch's Winter Wonderland Event

Overwatch's Winter Wonderland is now live for players to enjoy the holiday spirit. A series of skins and other cosmetic items are now available to earn through the Winter Loot boxes, which replaces the regular loot boxes during the holiday event.

Just like previous events, the Winter Loot Boxes can be earned or purchased, and will contain at least one item from the 2016 Winter Wonderland collection. Over 100 items were included for the event, giving players new profile icons, sprays, victory poses, emotes, highlight intros, skins, and more to earn. Once unlocked you have it forever, but you have until January 2 to earn what you want for your collection.

Winter Wonderland isn't the only thing that was released. A series of balance changes have gone live. One of the big changes is to the Support character Symmetra, which now has a new skill and an additional Ultimate to choose from. 

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Here's the full patch notes:

General

·         Added a new “Boop” unlockable voice line for Sombra

·         Players can now select the 1v1 Mystery Duel and 3v3 Elimination game modes from the Custom Game menu

·         Added a “Stay as Team” feature, which allows players to remain grouped with their teammates after the match has ended

Hero Balance Update

Symmetra

Photon Barrier (New Ability)

·         Replaces her existing Photon Shield ability

·         Generates a large energy barrier in front of Symmetra that blocks enemy fire as it travels forward

Shield Generator (New Ultimate Ability Option)

·         Symmetra’s Ultimate ability now offers a choice between Teleporter and a new option: Shield Generator

·         Shield Generator places a device that grants additional shields to allies within its effective radius (regardless of barriers, walls, or obstacles between them and the Shield Generator)

Photon Projector (Primary Fire): Range has been increased from 5 meters to 7 meters

Sentry Turret

·         Turrets that can be carried have been increased from 3 turrets to 6 turrets

·         Cooldown has been reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds

Photon Shield: Replaced with the new Photon Barrier ability

Teleporter
Health has been decreased from 200 to 50
Shields have been increased from 0 to 350

Bug Fixes

General

·         [PS4 Pro] Fixed a bug that could obscure or hide UI elements on a 4K display

·         Fixed a bug that allowed more than one player to select the same hero on the Assemble Team screen, but forced one player to reselect after spawning

·         Fixed a bug that forced players to join Play vs. AI matches when attempting to spectate a friend

·         Fixed a bug causing a black screen to appear if players switched heroes as the round ended

·         [PC] Fixed a bug that allowed the “H” key to close the Hero Select screen even after that function had been bound to a different key

AI

·         Bots are no longer able to use abilities or attack enemies after a Control match has ended

·         [Console] Fixed a bug that prevented Ana from being selected in 1v1 matches

Arcade

·         Fixed a bug that prevented players from correctly receiving experience after joining an in-progress 3v3 match

·         Fixed a bug preventing BattleTags from being displayed correctly during Highlight Intros and Plays of the Game in 1v1 and 3v3 matches

·         Fixed a bug causing the respawn timer to remain visible during 3v3 matches

Competitive Play: Fixed a bug that allowed more than one player to select the same hero in rare situations

Heroes

·         Fixed a bug preventing the nameplate above D.Va’s mech from disappearing while being destroyed, and displaying a “0” instead of the player’s name

·         Fixed a bug causing the “You” indicator (which typically only appears during killcam footage) to appear when D.Va looks directly at the ground

·         D.Va’s video tutorial now includes changes made to her Defense Matrix resource mechanics

·         Fixed a bug causing Genji’s sword to clip through its scabbard

·         Fixed a bug causing Junkrat’s Steel Trap animation to play when detonating a Concussion Mine

·         Fixed a bug causing Reinhardt’s hammer to become invisible to some players after using an emote

·         Fixed a bug that interfered with the accuracy of the alternate fire for Roadhog’s Scrap Gun

·         Fixed a bug that allowed players’ Ultimate ability voice lines to play uninterrupted, even if they were hacked by Sombra during use

·         Fixed a bug preventing the sound effects from Torbjörn’s hammer from being played when his Ultimate ability was activated

·         Fixed a bug causing Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook to begin its cooldown after going through Symmetra’s Teleporter

·         [Console] Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy to receive Ultimate charge when using her Caduceus Staff to increase teammates’ damage when they’re not damaging enemies

·         [Console] Fixed a bug preventing Reinhardt from deactivating his Barrier Field after being hacked by Sombra

·         [Console] Fixed a bug preventing Sombra’s Hack from cancelling Soldier: 76’s Sprint ability

·         [Console] Sombra no longer receives credit toward her on-fire meter when her EMP ultimate hits Symmetra’s turrets

·         [Console] When multiple Sombras attempt to hack a health pack, the player that initialized the hack first will now control it

·         [Console] Fixed a bug preventing Sombra’s Opportunist passive ability from seeing practice bots through the walls on the Practice Range

·         [Console] Fixed a bug preventing Sombra’s reticle from consistently expanding while firing her Machine Pistol

Maps

·         Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to reach unintended locations on Watchpoint: Gibraltar

·         Fixed a bug that prevented Mercy from using Resurrect in rare situations on King’s Row