The new Developer Update sheds light on the Year of the Dog

Last year’s Lunar New Year event brought us some very cool stuff, including the popular Capture the Flag event, but Year of the Dog looks to be even better. Jeff Kaplan dropped a Developer Update that goes into what Year of the Dog will entail, and fans should be very happy, especially those who are interested in Capture the Flag.

We’re getting six legendary skins, including ones for Mercy and Genji, along with highlight intros and other cosmetics. The YouTube thumbnail also contains a very interesting looking Widowmaker, suggesting she has a skin to come as well. The event will last for a full four weeks to allow people to log on, even though people tend to travel during the holiday, and hopefully snag new cosmetics and goodies.

There are no more draws in Capture the Flag. There’s now a Sudden Death mechanic to resolve close games, moving both flags close to the goals and giving the teams the ability to quickly cap and grab the win.

Picking up the flag is now instant, but certain abilities (like Winston’s Leap or Zenyatta’s Transcendence) will now drop the flag. This should prevent speedy flag carriers from getting up to no good, but actually results in more frantic and fun games.

Finally, there will be a four week Capture the Flag competitive season.

This year’s Year of the Dog looks to be one of the best event improvements to date, and we’ll see whether Capture the Flag fans benefit from the new ruleset. In the meantime, we should all be happy with new cosmetics and a longer event timer.