'Overwatch' news: Game's holiday event to officially go live on Dec. 13

After a leak suggested that "Overwatch" would receive a Christmas-themed update, Blizzard Entertainment finally confirmed the upcoming event through its official Twitter account.

In a  tweet dated Dec. 6, Blizzard shared an animated gif along with a caption that says "You're invited!" The post shows a snow-capped version of the King's Row map, which suggests that the update will include modified versions of the game's existing maps. It also features a Dec. 13 date, indicating when the update will be available.

According to reports, the upcoming holiday promotion will be the game's third limited-time special event since its release. Previous events include the Halloween Terror and Olympics-themed Summer Games events. The said events featured a number of new cosmetic items (sprays, voice lines, costumes, and more) along with a limited-time game mode.

Meanwhile, the third competitive season for "Overwatch" kicked off earlier this month. Also, Blizzard previously announced its plans to launch a new map called Oasis along with major gameplay improvements to support character Symmetra.

Prior to the holiday event announcement, the game introduced a new 3v3 elimination mode, which is much tenser than a usual match. Reports say that Blizzard designed the new mode to stop people from hiding forever because when there's only one minute left in the match, a player's location is revealed to the opposing team. This makes the ensuing chases even more interesting.

Developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, "Overwatch" is a team-based first-person shooter game that took the top spot in last week's The Game Awards 2016. Aside from scoring the most-coveted Game of the Year award, it also won Best Multiplayer and the fan-nominated Esports Game of the Year. Blizzard Entertainment, on the other hand, won for Best Game Direction. The game is currently available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows PC.