Planning Seasonal In-Game Events

Welcome back to the Growth Insights Series!

This article explores the North American holiday schedule and how to plan in-game events around it. Our goal is to help you and your business prepare by exploring the most common holidays and how to prioritize them for your game.

To successfully plan seasonal in-game events, we need to first understand what players expect and why. Live service games thrive on frequent updates, and players have learned to anticipate that major changes will align with holidays and real-world seasons. If your game doesn’t mark these moments, players may turn to competitors who do. On the other hand, running the right events at the right times can drive engagement, increase revenue, and even grow your player base strictly through word of mouth.

You may be asking: How do you run holiday events correctly? Which holidays matter most? What do players expect, and how can you exceed those expectations? Finally, how can your events compete successfully with others? In this article and the next, Designing Engaging Holiday Events, we’ll answer these questions and more.

In this article, we’ll break down the Western holiday season by:

Here’s a closer look at the major North American holidays from the table above, with notes on what they mean culturally and how they may impact player engagement:

Marks the end of winter break and follows New Year’s Eve celebrations. A quiet day often tied to new resolutions and goals.

A secular holiday of romance where couples exchange chocolates, flowers, and gifts, often paired with dates or outings.

A Christian tradition marking the day before Lent, now celebrated more broadly with parades, costumes, and the colors purple, green, and gold.

A major Christian holiday linked to spring. For the religious, it is a high day of celebration. For others, traditions include Easter baskets, candy, and egg hunts for children.

Once a minor Christian holiday, now a cultural celebration of Irish pride and heritage, often marked with parades and parties.

A school holiday lasting about a week, often tied to Easter. A time when player engagement can spike as students have more free time.

An unofficial holiday centered on pranks and jokes. Some games introduce offbeat joke modes or trailers, though the holiday has declined as tolerance for surprises has waned.

A celebration of Mexican-American culture, similar in spirit to St. Patrick’s Day.

Marks the end of the school year. Player engagement spikes for games with school and college-aged players, though it can dip for adults, especially parents caring for children.

A U.S. holiday honoring fallen service members, often seen as the unofficial start of summer with sales and family barbecues.

A U.S. national holiday celebrating independence from Britain, observed with fireworks, parades, and family barbecues. Often compared to summer festivals in other countries.

A U.S. holiday honoring workers that marks the end of summer. Player engagement typically drops as schools reopen, with little offset among older players.

Originating from the Celtic festival of Samhain, now a major secular holiday with costumes, trick-or-treating, haunted houses, and parties. Celebrations often start as early as late August.

A Mexican holiday honoring ancestors, with gatherings, food, and decorations that’s gaining popularity in North America.

Thanksgiving is a family holiday centered on gratitude and a large meal. Black Friday, the following day, is the official start of the holiday shopping season and a major global sales event.

A Christian holiday that has become a major secular celebration. The season, lasting from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve, is a tent-pole period for engagement and spending, marked by family gatherings and gift-giving.

The end of the calendar year, celebrated with parties and fireworks. Traditions include watching the ball drop in Times Square.

🎍 January 1 – New Year’s Day (Japan)

Japan’s New Year centers on hatsumōde (first shrine or temple visit), family gatherings, and doorway decorations like kadomatsu. While Jan 1 is the official holiday, many businesses close from Jan 1–3.

🐉 Late January–early February – Lunar New Year (China)

In contrast to the Gregorian calendar New Year, Lunar New Year follows the lunar calendar and celebrates the Zodiac, with each year tied to an animal. Traditions are larger in scale, and most businesses close for a week of holidays.

🎌 Late April–early May – Golden Week (Japan)

A week of national holidays including Shōwa Day, Constitution Day, Greenery Day, and Children’s Day. Many people take the entire week off, with travel and seasonal promotions spiking.

🚣‍♂️ Late May–June – Dragon Boat Festival (China)

Commemorates the poet-statesman Qu Yuan. Marked by dragon boat races and eating zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). A three-day public holiday in China.

🎋 July–August – Tanabata (Japan)

The Star Festival, where people write wishes on colorful slips (tanzaku) and hang them on bamboo. Dates vary by region, often July 7 or in August.

🏮 Mid-August – Obon (Japan)

A Buddhist tradition where families honor ancestors through lanterns, family gatherings, and Bon Odori dances. Commonly observed August 13–16, it’s also one of Japan’s busiest travel periods.

👻 August–September – Hungry Ghost Festival (East & Southeast Asia)

Observed on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. Families make offerings and burn joss paper to honor and appease spirits. Widely celebrated in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.

🌕 September–October – Mid-Autumn Festival (China)

Held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Families gather to eat mooncakes and light lanterns to celebrate the harvest and the full moon.

There are other opportunities to offer in-game events and tailored monetization offerings beyond traditional holidays, however. Major sporting events like the World Cup and the Olympics are popular anchors for themed events. For example, Overwatch’s Summer Games, launched during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, successfully introduced country-themed skins and sports emotes. Planning events around these non-holiday moments can help fill the gap between holiday seasons, boosting player engagement and spend during slower periods.

Planning your first in-game holiday events can feel overwhelming. To simplify, start by focusing on the holidays that are proven to consistently drive the strongest engagement and revenue:

These holidays drive the strongest engagement and spend, and are easily the most recognized by players. Use the priority list above to maximize the value of these opportunities.

The three largest gaming markets are in the Northern hemisphere, so it makes sense to plan events around its seasonal calendar:

Not every week is ideal for in-game events. Player activity dips at predictable times, so giving players a break can improve engagement in the long run. Key low activity periods we suggest skipping include:

Now that you have a clear picture of the Western holiday schedule and how to plan events around it, our next article will focus on designing holiday events. We plan to release a series of content to help you prepare for the holiday season. Expect information about designing holiday events, Meta trends, and Meta planned programming.

We hope the information in this article has helped you understand the major North American holidays, why they matter, how to prioritize them, and what timing considerations to keep in mind. We look forward to seeing how you leverage these insights to bring your next in-game holiday events to life!

Want more insights? Stay up to date with the latest developer and creator news by following us on X⁠ and Facebook⁠.