Overwatch came out of nowhere with a new event called the PachiMarchi Challenge, which promises to be one of the most adorable celebrations in the game to date.
If you’ve played Overwatch, you’re likely familiar with the little smiling octopus / onion known as Pachimari. They are basically the cutest thing in the game (besides baby D.Va) and now they are winning their own event.
That’s right, from March 9th to 22nd, PachiMarchi will be the first Overwatch minievent not focused on a real playable character.
Get ready for a cephalopod showdown.
THE #PachiMarchi The challenge starts on March 9! pic.twitter.com/uZQKsXbfRi
– Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) March 8, 2021
Like us, you probably saw this trailer tweeted by Overwatch and thought “what the hell is going on, Jeff?” because it doesn’t really explain what the event will consist of and it’s not really specific to the hero.
Blizzard explained more about what was happening on the official Overwatch forums. According to the developers, you will be able to unlock six community-themed Pachimari sprays just by launching Overwatch before the event ends.
Unlike previous similar events, PachiMarchi will not has Twitch drop, so the only way to earn the rewards, which we know so far, is to log in and play.
What will these Pachi themed sprays look like, you ask? They haven’t been revealed yet, but Overwatch has been literally retweeting a ton of painfully cute Pachimari fan art since the beginning of March, so this might be a good place to start looking.
popchimari to pachimarchi: 3: O @PlayOverwatch# pixel art # ド ッ ト 絵 #pachimarchi #overwatch #overwatchfanart pic.twitter.com/ZkBzaHl6WZ
– 🌜 (@comfymini) March 5, 2021
#PachiMarchi
モ イ ラ さ ん 😊 pic.twitter.com/MDIZpslMPn– ア ヤ カ (@ayazilla) March 4, 2021
Wow is pachimarchi already D:
Here is a Roadhog in its natural habitat 🧄#PachiMarchi # pixel art #Overwatch #OverwatchFanart #Roadhog pic.twitter.com/0qkoHz1FUo– Umbra (° v °) (@ umbra_m3) March 4, 2021
There is no mention of skins or any other reward other than sprays, so unfortunately the chances of each hero getting their own Pachimari skin for this event are probably very small.
While the idea of turning Mei’s Snowball companion into a small tentacle onion or giving Roadhog a skin for his favorite stuffed animal sounds adorable, it unfortunately seems highly unlikely (you can definitely take these ideas for future use, Jeff).
A little speculation hung over the possibility of seeing the Overwatch Archives event start this week, based on it starting in the second week of March 2020. Blizzard had other ideas, but there is a good chance that the next seasonal event will start right after the closure of PachiMarchi on March 22.