Overwatch has had a good year, and to celebrate the success, Blizzard has decided to give away five free loot boxes to all players of the massively popular multiplayer shooter.

The free loot boxes are from the Winter Wonderland event, which is running until Jan. 2.

Blizzard Gives Away Free Loot Boxes To Overwatch Gamers

Overwatch gamers who have logged in saw a holiday message from Blizzard that has the developer take time to thank players for the "eventful and amazing year" that Overwatch has had for 2016.

According to Blizzard, the success of Overwatch in terms of sales and popularity would not have been possible if not for the "tremendous support, passion, and enthusiasm" that players have shown for the game since it was released.

As a way to show its gratitude, Blizzard has given away five free Winter Wonderland loot boxes to all active Overwatch accounts. To claim them, all players need to do is to log in to their accounts. The free loot boxes will be waiting for players.

While Blizzard's message did not state any expiration date for players to open the free loot boxes, the Winter Wonderland event of Overwatch is slated to end on Jan. 2. It is not sure if unopened free Winter Wonderland loot boxes will be discarded by then, but it would be best for players to log in and open their free loot boxes before that date.

Overwatch Winter Wonderland Event

Blizzard launched the Winter Wonderland update for Overwatch two weeks ago, giving players a chance to acquire event-specific items such skins, profile icons, emotes and many more.

While most of the character skins for Winter Wonderland are amazing, fans of Mei have expressed disappointment in what looked like a simple recolor of Mei's usual clothes being tagged as a legendary skin.

Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan explained that the Winter Wonderland skin for Mei was tagged as a legendary skin because it comes with a visual upgrade for one of her skills, as Mei becomes a snowman instead of a block of ice upon using her Cryo-Freeze Skill while wearing the skin. Nevertheless, Kaplan said that the Overwatch team listened to the feedback and will keep it in mind for future legendary skins.

Overwatch Plans For 2017

According to Kaplan, more heroes will be added to the roster of Overwatch in 2017, with one particular hero that is still in development already looking like a promising potential new character.

Kaplan added that gamers can also expect new maps to arrive for Overwatch, along with a custom game server browser and custom communication options.

Overwatch had a good year in 2016, and its success will likely continue into 2017.