When is the Overwatch 2 Lunar New Year event for 2024?

New Lunar Year, new seasonal event! Overwatch 2 still marks the changing of the calendar with its Lunar New Year celebration, and the fireworks began on January 30 and will last through February 20. This event honoring the Year of the Dragon will close out the eighth season of the team shooter, so now’s the time to get in those last boosts up the Battle Pass.

The Lunar New Year event brings back some special Arcade modes. Celebrate with the return of Capture the Flag, Capture the Flag Blitz, and Bounty Hunter Deathmatch from past special events. We’ve also got Mischief and Magic coming around again. Following the mode’s debut on a segment of the Blizzard World map in Season 5, Overwatch 2‘s version of prop hunt will see teams of Kirikos and Genjis trying to outfox each other on the Lijiang Night Market map for the next few weeks.

A lot of the event challenges center on tasks in those Arcade modes. There are several kite sprays for newer heroes that you can unlock this way, and mastering Mischief and Magic in particular will grant you some especially sweet player titles. Who wouldn’t want to be known as “Magical Dragon,” right?

This event often yields some of the most beautiful hero cosmetics, but there’s nothing new in the store at launch time. According to Blizzard three new legendary looks with event tie-ins will arrive in the shop next week. Those are Turtleship D.Va, Dragonfire Bastion, and Mystic Swan Mercy. The Season 8 trailer teased the new Mercy threads, and I’m expecting the whole trio of new skins to be pretty gorgeous.

We’ll see you (or, if it’s Mischief and Magic, maybe we won’t see you) in the game for Lunar New Year, from January 30 – February 20!

Originally published September 6, 2023. Updated February 1, 2024.