Season’s Greetings, Survivors!The annual Christmas Event is back in time for the holiday season on all official server maps and platforms. The event begins today, the 11th of December, and will end on the 8th of January. Here's a quick refresher on what you can expect from the event.

Christmas Trees and Gifts
As St. Mariah defrosts this time of year, DayZ singing Christmas trees, the centerpiece of the event, will start to appear in towns and villages across all maps. Prepare to get "Carol of the Bells" stuck in your head for days on end. Of course, the reward is worth it, as you'll be finding gift boxes filled with goods such as food, character cosmetics, ammo, small firearms, and much more. Different sizes of boxes may yield different rewards, and as always, you can repackage and regift any loot to your fellow survivors. We will not tell you the locations, as we want you to stumble upon them. They will either be a refuge for those in need or a hotspot for PVP, so be extra careful and watch your step.

Dynamic Sleigh Crash
As usual, the infected Santa will be crashing his sleigh in various parts of the map, meaning all the gifts he would deliver will be scattered around the vicinity. You will, of course, have to fight off the infected Santa to get the sweet, sweet loot. These will not replace helicopter crashes. In fact, they may also spawn items from the regular helicopter crashes. There is plenty of loot to go around as long as you keep your eyes and ears peeled.

Not All Deer Are Reindeer, But All Reindeer Are DeerWe are replacing all the deer across all maps with reindeer from Sakhal. You may also find a special reindeer friend from the North Pole in the herds, with a red nose and antlers covered in Christmas lights. You can get an extra Christmas light reward if you hunt one down and carve it up for some steak.

Christmas Items and Seasonal Cosmetics
All the Christmas seasonal items are making a return. Here's the complete list:

• The new special baseball bat with tangled Christmas lights

• Updated Christmas headbands, now with tangled Christmas lights

• Eye masks

• Santa hat

• Santa beards

• Morozko hats

• Christmas gloves

• Super Nutritious Candy Canes

• Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Speaking of the Ugly Christmas Sweaters, we received a lot of requests from you, the community, last year about whether we’d have these sweaters as merch. This year, we are actually releasing one of the sweater designs. You can now purchase it at our merch store.[store.bistudio.com] Our community in the UK can also get it directly here[www.merchoid.com].

All in all, we hope this event provides some refuge and warmth for you during the winter holidays.
Thank you so much for your patience, love, and support.
We love you.
On behalf of the DayZ team,
Lynn

Survivors, 

One of the most requested merch items for Christmas, the in-game DayZ themed sweater, is now available in our merch store! 
Get in from our Merch Store here[store.bistudio.com].
For survivors in UK, you can order directly here[www.merchoid.com].

Just in time for winter and the holiday season, it is perfect for those family dinners where a "Don’t shoot, I’m friendly" message might come in handy, especially when the banter gets a little too sharp for any plate carrier to stop the hurt and tears could become a part of the seasoning of the food.

If not, may this sweater and the spirit of DayZ protect you from the holiday blues. 
Wishing you all a safe and cozy holiday time!
Big Love,
DayZ Team