'It should be silly'_ Overwatch 2's newest Halloween event, Haunted Masquerade, connects characters'

Season 19 has brought a whole host of new cosmetics, challenges, and even events. Just in time for Halloween, old events like Junkenstein's Revenge and Wrath of the Bride will be coming back, alongside a new event: Haunted Masquerade.

Instead of having the usual PvE experience that holiday events often have, Haunted Masquerade is simply putting a new spin on 6v6. "We want to explore something a bit broader, in the sense of, like, team selection," associate game director, Alec Dawson, says. "You know, how is my team benefiting me? What did they give me? And seeing how the players will react to that in particular.

"I would say it is more of an examination on team synergy and team selection, rather than how things like perks and mods in Stadium, which are very much focused on how you want to upgrade your specific hero."

There are 11 pairings in Haunted Masquerade. You have Hanzo and Genji combining Dragons, Brigitte and Reinhardt meshing shields and then other hero combos like:

• Orisa and Sojourn
• Ramattra and Zenyatta
• Roadhog and Junkrat
• Winston and Tracer
• Mei and Juno
• Reaper and Moira
• Soldier 76 and Ana
• Symmetra and Lifeweaver
• Torbjorn and Mercy

"I think the first thought we had was like, 'Who has a good connection in the lore?' You know, you have Genji and Hanzo," Dawson says. "That one's pretty obvious." There's also Brigitte and Reinhardt, and then you have some more left-field connections like Tracer and Winston.

"So tracer can throw her Pulse Bomb onto Winston and it'll actually stick onto him, and then he can jump into the enemy team and then it will explode," Dawson explains. "Winston, after he puts down his bubble, can recall to it for a limited amount of time, [[link]] just like Tracer. So each side of the pairing gets something special."

Some of the ideas are actually really fun. Like Ramattra having the ability to detonate allied Zen Orbs of Discord, and the explosions damage nearby enemies, applying a temporary Orb of Discord to them too.

"I think our player base understands that we're always looking to learn something from the events that we're doing," Dawson says. "You know, it could be something as wacky as April Fools, and we're still going to be like, 'Oh, there's two abilities in there that we're actually trying to look for feedback on' and see if these things can stick."

But not everything is meant for something bigger than a Halloween event. While the concept of Haunted Masquerade is certainly fun, I don't think it brings players together in the way Blizzard would hope. In the few games I've played so far, most, if not all, the comms are teammates yelling at one another for not selecting the right heroes, be that [[link]] a pairing or filling roles like Tank or Support—the [[link]] typical Overwatch experience. But one of the best parts about all of the holiday events is that they provide a fun break from the grind of competitive.

"I think this is the luxury of events and being an event designer, that you can be silly," lead game designer, Kirill Perekrest, explains. "You can exaggerate stuff, and you can try something out, if you want to prototype in playtests. Hey, it's Halloween, it should be fun. It should be interesting. It should be silly."