It’s that time of year again. Daylight savings is over, Mariah Carey is defrosting for the millionth time, and winter is coming back to gaming.
As I turn on my computer and finally get to play games after a long day of college, I start up my favorite game: Overwatch 2, a competitive first-person shooter. I’m welcomed by the beautiful sight of the winter season taking over the previous Halloween decorations of the game.
Across the gaming world, there are many winter-themed games. Players could drive snowmobiles in 2023’s “Sledders,” survive a permanent winter dystopia in 2019’s “Frostpunk” or do some wild snowboarding tricks in the classic “SSX” series from the early 2000s.
As the industry evolved over the years, even games that aren’t necessarily winter-themed have managed to stay relevant as the snow. These games do it in two ways: in-game weather mechanics and seasonal updates.
Through in-game weather mechanics, developers can create gorgeous environments that reflect real-world snow days. With seasonal updates, even games that aren’t necessarily able to create in-game winter environments can still give players winter-themed cosmetics and rewards.
Open world winter
Many of the industry’s biggest open-world games, such as “Red Dead Redemption 2” , “Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla” and “Minecraft,” feature areas or biomes filled with snow.
In RDR2, players might want to explore the rugged snow-covered mountains of the fictional Ambarino region, inspired by the real-life Rocky Mountains and rugged terrain of Wyoming. Even after seven years, the game still holds up as a modern classic, and the area looks beautiful thanks to RDR2’s amazing graphics.
“RDR2 is the best game in history,” Miguel Valdez Padilla, a student at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, said. “While you leave the Ambarino area very quickly at the start of the game, you can return to the snowy mountains whenever you want to participate in various activities.”
RDR2’s success speaks for itself. According to the video game sales-tracking website VGChartz, RDR2 has sold more than 77 million copies as of 2025 and earned over 175 awards.
“Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla” features recreations of medieval Norway, England and other unique areas of Northwest Europe. Whether players explore the snow-covered fjords of Norway or travel through Jorvik, modern-day Yorkshire, England, players will enjoy the feeling of being a Viking in the winter. The game is also one of the best in Ubisoft’s history, becoming the second-most profitable Ubisoft title and making over $1 billion by 2022.
In “Minecraft,” players might have to explore its randomly generated world before finally coming across some winter-themed biomes. However, there are many varieties players might come across.
There’s the ice hills of the snowy tundra, populated with scattered polar bears and hostile undead skeletons. Or the rolling snow-covered hills of the snowy mountains biome, populated with the occasional cozy village.
And the rare ice spikes biome, packed with ice spikes that shoot up from the ground. At any rate, players will have a multitude of options for creative builds and constant exploration.
“Minecraft is a very entertaining game, and the perfect game to play alone or with friends,” Emilio Cordero Valenzuela, a high school student from Mexico, said. “You can find all sorts of biomes in the game, including snowy environments.”
Game-changing events
A lot of games, especially live-service games (games that receive ongoing updates and monetized content over time) get complete makeovers as the holidays roll in.
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” and “Overwatch 2” are just two examples of this.
In ACNH, the game’s cozy island will receive snowfall and cloudy weather starting in late November, as winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere. Once the snow settles in mid-December, snowballs can be found and rolled up to make “snowfolks” or to discover and catch Dung Beetles.
All existing cedar trees will be covered in flashing lights, auroras can be seen in the sky and catchable snowflakes fall. It’s a perfect game when staying in to avoid the dreary winter weather.
The game has been very successful for Nintendo. . ACNH grossed an estimated $2 billion as of March 2021 and has sold almost 50 million copies as of this year. On Nov. 9, 2022, it was reported that ACNH became the best-selling game of all time in Japan.
OW2 gets its seasonal “Winter Wonderland” update around mid-December, letting players access previous years’ cosmetics in the shop and releasing new ones as well.
Event challenges will be available during the season as well, allowing players to achieve exclusive rewards, along with unique game modes like Mei’s Snowball Offensive, where players wage an all-out snowball war.
The community and the developer team are very active, and updates and events are consistent for the game. Most of its profits come from in-game cosmetics that players can purchase.
The permanent winter
If you’re missing the winter during any other time of the year, don’t worry the gaming world has something for you, too.
Players might be trying to keep their settlement alive in “Frostpunk,” exploring the hostile, icy depths of “Subnautica: Below Zero” or slaying gods of Norse mythology in “God of War: Ragnarök.” Be warned: these games might be challenging for the inexperienced.
“Frostpunk” is Polish developer 11 Bit Studios’ 2018 city-building survival game, where players take the role of a leader in an alternate history of the 19th century gone wrong.
A worldwide mass cooling event has plunged the citizens of New London into a permanent winter. Players must grapple with internal conflict and societal turmoil in a divided city, survive a great storm that threatens to overwhelm it and make morally grey ethical decisions along the way.
If you can’t get enough of “Frostpunk,” consider also trying the sequel, “Frostpunk 2.” Set 30 years after the first game, the sequel allows players to take control of New London’s new leader, “the Steward,” who replaces the leader players saw in the first game, “the Captain.”
This time around, the advent of the petroleum industry creates new challenges for players, along with a simulation of a fledgling democracy filled with factionalism and divided ideals.
If you can’t get enough of the main game, “Frostpunk 2” also features a sandbox mode called “Utopia Builder,” so you never have to miss the winter season.
If you still can’t get enough of “Frostpunk’s” permanent winter, don’t worry. 11 Bit Studios already announced a remake of the original game: “Frostpunk: 1886.”
“The original ‘Frostpunk’ experience is being reimagined and expanded with new events, mechanics, and laws within a new Purpose Path,” the developers announced on their website. “Return to your role as the ruler of Earth’s last city, manage its citizens, weigh up your choices and ensure your society’s survival.”
“Subnautica: Below Zero” is San Francisco developers Unknown Worlds’ spin-off of its wildly popular “Subnautica” game. As players land in this 2021 masterpiece’s alien ocean world, they’ll have to survive as xenologist Robin Ayou and solve the mysterious death of her sister.
Collect resources, construct tools, build bases and submersibles, interact with the planet’s wildlife and somehow survive long enough to get out. Have a blanket handy for this one, because the game’s Antarctica-esque setting will have you feeling the freeze.
Last, but definitely not least, “God of War: Ragnarök” is the perfect game for a long winter playthrough.
Set in mythical ancient Scandinavia, Sony’s ninth installment of the highly praised “God of War” series follows its protagonist, Kratos, on a journey to prevent the destruction of the nine realms by Ragnarök, the doomsday event central to Norse mythology.
Fight mythological monsters, solve puzzles and role-play as a god-slaying warrior as you travel through Midgard, which has become a frigid wasteland due to the three-year-long winter of Fimbulwinter, as well as other icy realms like Helheim, the land of the dead and Jötunheim, the land of the Giants.
“God of War: Ragnarök” is one of the greats in gaming, with the franchise selling over 76 million copies, 15 million of which come from Ragnarök, according to VGChartz. It has won many awards over the years and been nominated for Game of the Year several times.
“God of War: Ragnarök’ is an amazing game with a good story and gameplay,” Valdez said. “A large part of the game’s setting is snowy, and due to the events of the previous game, you can see how all the characters are progressing and changing, and how Ragnarök is making them cold.”