'Overwatch' Halloween 2019 skins, event, release date, start time, and more

Overwatch’s yearly Halloween Terror event is just around the corner. That means new, spooky skins, seasonal game modes, and the return of creepy cosmetics of years past will soon arrive to Blizzard’s team-based shooter.

The Overwatch team announced the start of Bastion’s Brick Challenge Event Tuesday, which introduced LEGO-inspired icons and spray plus a new Bastion skin constructed entirely out of the toy blocks. What could that mean for Halloween Terror 2019?

Blizzard has yet to say a word about its fourth October spookfest. But based on the recently announced LEGO collaboration and prior Halloween events it’s possible to determine roughly when Halloween Terror 2019 will begin and what it will bring.

Here’s what we can expect from Overwatch this October.

When is the Overwatch Halloween Terror 2019 event release date and start time?

Bastion’s Brick Challenge will last until September 30, exactly a day before October begins leaving Blizzard with just the right amount of time to prepare for this year’s Halloween Terror.

The past three October events have began on the second Tuesday of the month. Blizzard could take down Bastion’s Brick Challenge after September 30 and use the next week and a half to ready for its Halloween patch that it has delivered without fail since the game was released in 2016. But gamers might have to wait until a day or two before the event for an announcement.

Blizzard announced Bastion’s Brick Challenge the day it was launched and in May it notified fans of its fourth anniversary three days before it kicked off.

The second Tuesday of October lands on the 8th this year, so expect an October 5 announcement if they stick to the anniversary event script. As for the specific start time, you can expect the Halloween 2019 Overwatch update to hit at around 11 a.m. Eastern time, if history is any indication.

What new Halloween Terror 2019 skins are coming?

The most anticipated part of Halloween Terror 2019 is the batch of spooky skin that has traditional come with the event and the possibility to unlock old Halloween skins again.

Blizzard has always released a mix of legendary and epic skins in October, but the amount has varied greatly from year to year. Halloween Terror 2016 saw the most with eight epic skins and four legendary ones. The following year fans got seven legendary skins but no epics. Last year, saw the release of three epics and six legendaries.

Expect somewhere between seven to ten new skins this year. Blizzard has never matched the 12 skins it dropped in 2016 and it naturally becomes harder to think of more ideas the longer the older the game gets.

What heroes will get Halloween Terror 2019 skins?

At the end of the day it will come down to the ideas the developers have that will determine who gets new looks. But by taking a look at which heroes have the least alternative skins overall, we can estimate which heroes are most likely to get first priority.

Both Orisa and Ana haven’t received a new legendary skin in over a year and they’ve each only have three legendary event skins overall. That’s very low compared to Torbjorn and Mei, for example, who each have seven legendary event skins.

Next up are Doomfist, Sombra, and Symmetra. The trio each has four legendary skins and have gone a significant amount of time without receiving new looks.

Ashe, Baptiste, and Sigma are also potential candidates as this will be their first Halloween Terror. They’ll almost certainly get new sprays and voice lines as all of them don’t have any Halloween-themed cosmetics yet.

Will there be any new Halloween Terror 2019 game modes?

Junkenstein’s Revenge will likely make its comeback for the fourth time. The co-op based game mode has been a staple of Halloween Terror since 2016 as well as its variant Junkenstein Endless. Unfortunately, it’s not looking good for a whole new game mode this year.

This year’s Summer Games recycled Lucioball again with a few different arenas. So it’s possible that Blizzard will slightly alter the setting of Junkenstein’s Revenge, but the core game mode will likely remain as the main Arcade game of the event.

Will there be any new Halloween-themed maps for Halloween Terror 2019?

Blizzard has traditionally re-skined a few of its maps to reflect the spooky holiday, like Hollywood and Eichenwalde. Last year, saw the introduction of a creepy Château Guillard so we could see another one this time around.

There haven’t been any hints as to what it might be, but Dorado would be an easy choice. Blizzard could even opt to make the map Day of the Dead-themed, a Mexican holiday celebrated in late October and early November. The normal Dorado map is already mid-festival anyway, so this could be a simple revamp.

But fans will need to wait and see what scary surprises Blizzard has in store for its fourth annual Halloween Terror event.