Overwatch Archives 2020 event: skins, challenges, brawls, more

Overwatch’s Archives event is back for 2020, boasting brand new skins, weekly challenges, and unique missions for players to complete throughout its duration.

The annual Archives event has made an appearance throughout the past three years and has just been made available once again in 2020. Taking players on a trip down memory lane, the event allows the Overwatch community to play through three unique PvE chapters.

Adding a unique spin on the formula, each week will present a fresh set of missions and challenges for players to sink their teeth into in order to unlock a wide array of content.

A month ahead of the typical yearly schedule, 2020’s Archives event is live across the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC from March 12 through until April 2.

 Boasting 5 Legendary skins, 3 Epic skins, as well as a number of icons, emotes, and spray, the three-week affair will have plenty for dedicated Overwatch players to accomplish.

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Spicing up the familiar gameplay of Uprising, Retribution, and Storm Rising missions from years past, each passing week will offer a new set of modifiers to up the ante. Referred to as ‘Challenge Missions,’ each week will play out as follows.

• Week One – Uprising Missions
  • Molten Cores – Enemies drop Lava on death
  • Glass Cannon – Players have 50% less health and increased damage

• Week Two – Retribution Missions
  • Surgical Strike – Only critical hits do damage to enemies
  • Close Quarters – Enemies can only be damaged if a player is nearby
• Week Three – Storm Rising Missions
  • Blood Moon Rising – No Support heroes and healing is reduced. Heal yourself by doing damage
  • Storm Raging – Some enemies are enraged. Killing them spreads the rage

Including in the 2020 Archives event are five brand new Legendary skins that can be found in the event-specific loot boxes.

This year, iconic heroes are given a stylish makeover as Junkrat enters the fight wearing a crown fit for a king, and Pharah takes to the skies with a cool pair of sunglasses to block out both the shade, and the haters.

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Zarya, Ana, and Torbjörn have also been decked out with new costumes in celebration of the event. Players will be able to unlock each unique skin until the Archives event comes to an end on April 2.

Moreover, weekly challenges will also be available throughout the event, allowing players to unlock Epic skins with relative ease. 

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Winning nine games across Quick Play, Arcade, and Competitive will grant you the following rewards on top of various player icons and sprays.

• Week One – Holi Symmetra (Epic skin)
• Week Two – Rustclad Torbjörn (Epic skin)
• Week Three – Bear Mei (Epic skin)

From new cosmetics to intriguing challenges that rotate on a weekly basis, the 2020 Archives event will provide something new for all Overwatch players throughout its duration.

This could be the last trip down memory lane in the lore-heavy event before the Overwatch narrative is propelled years into the future with Overwatch 2.