Overwatch 2021 Archives event kicks off on April 6

Bill Cooney

Overwatch has officially revealed when the 2021 Archives event will happen in April, and while a new PvE mission might be doubtful, we can definitely expect some new skins.

Archives is unique among seasonal events as it focuses on past Overwatch missions with PvE limited time modes like Uprising, Retribution and Storm Rising.

The lore-packed festivities usually kick off in early April, and Overwatch has now announced that we’ll be getting access to the Archives right on time.

According to Overwatch’s tweet, Archives 2021 will run from April 6 — 27, 2021. Along with the dates, the trailer included shots from previous years’ missions, so we very well could be in for a second consecutive year with no new PvE for the event.

While this is definitely disappointing, it does make sense if the Overwatch team is putting their resources into making Overwatch 2 instead of a one-off mission that will only be in the game for a few weeks.

That’s not to say Jeff and the team aren’t just holding out on us until the very last moment though, which they’ve done before. Still, we wouldn’t put money on a new lore-based mission when Archives kicks off (especially with so much developer attention shifted to Overwatch 2‘s PvE content.

Despite that, there’s sure to at least be some new skins and other cosmetics coming for players to collect, like with every other event.

Blizzard Entertainment
A brand new PvE mission might be wishful thinking this year.

Exactly which heroes will be getting skins is unknown at this point. But, new skins are often teased by the game on social media before events get started, so be sure to keep an eye out from now until April 6.

We haven’t seen a new PvE challenge since Storm Rising back in 2019 and if one doesn’t happen this year, we might have to wait until Overwatch 2 comes out (which will hopefully be before Archives 2022) .

New PvE mission or not, we’ll have the latest updates on new skins as soon as they’re announced and more info on Archives 2021 as it kicks off this week