I still had one foot in the closet when 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Overwatch launched in 2016. Back then, Blizzard was hailing the hero 💜sh⭕ooter as a new step forward for inclusivity in the medium, long before any LGBTQ+ characters were even confirmed as part of the roster.
First came Tracer, ♍shown living with her girlfriend Emily in a festive comic that turned the cover star into a queer icon. Smaller examples of representation followed in her footsteps, ranging from boomer military man Soldier 76 to spunky rocket trꦆooper Pharah. Their queer identities were rarely worked into the game itself though, surfacing instead through comics and short stories, or the rare out of context voice line or seasonal event lore that kindly reminded us that some of its 30 strong roster played for the other team.
While I could never complain about the shee𒉰r amount of rep seen throughout Overwatch’s history, much of it felt tertiary, with fans having to fill in gaps on their own time with art and fanfiction designed to bring popular pairings to life.
Things have been improving though. The first set of campaign𒅌 missions in Overwatch 2 teased an official romance between Mercy and Pharah through a pair of adorable diary entries, Lifeweaver’𓆏s pansexuality was a building block of his design and personality, while smaller references surrounding the queerness of Baptiste, Pharah, and Tracer aren’t just careless mentions anymore, they’re surfacing in new voice lines, bios, and references constantly. Blizzard is aware that queer characters can’t just be lip service in pursuit of diversity, representation needs to be a constant evolving effort willing to take risks and make mistakes.
Five years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of Overwatch ever hosting a Pride event. Giving Tracer a girlfriend seemed like too much of a gamble to mention in-game, let alone filling maps with Pride flags and shining a continued light on how fruity the cast happens to be. While some territories still won’t play ball and are censoring events, we’re making progress, and supporting the queerness of Overwatch no longer feels like a dirty compromise whe🦂re my love for it has to constantly beat around the bush. If anything, Blizzard has improved on its LGBTQ+ representation but given me plenty of other reasons to hate t🎶he game instead.
This weekend saw Blizzard announce new tank Mauga, who was even pla🅘yable for the duration of BlizzCon whether you were attending or not. A reimagination of Hanamura, competitive rework, and more were also announced to be in development for a 2024 release. Alongside Mauga, earlier glimpses at two additional heroes were revealed, something that the game hasn’t really done before. It was a nice surprise as concept art for two new heroes - Space Ranger and Venture - were revealed with concrete details on how they will play, look, and factor into the existing roster. Being closer to release, Venture also received an early game﷽play demonstration at a panel during the show.
Venture is an offensive hero armed with a handheld drill they can use to charge forward into enemies or burrow beneath the ground to travel faster and perform surprise attacks. They’re also non-binary, with Blizzard confirming their pronouns and identity shortly after their reveal. There was no weird omission or an excuse, who this character is was direct, proud, and full of pride. Overwatch 2 has always been exuberant and charming, but to see the cast’s queer id🐷entities finally factored into that vision without cutting corners warms my heart. Venture is yet another step in the right direction, androgynous in their appearance but🔯 still packed with personality from their clothes to their facial expressions. It’s about being who you want to be.
Overwatch was the game that defined my time in university, a period of my life where I came to terms with being transgender, pansexual, and taking many steps to embracing the person I had inadvertently kept hidden away for much of my life. I’m still on that journey, and it would be remiss of me not to recognise how Overwatch was a part of that. I grew up in a world of media where queer representation had to be drawn from subtext or interpolated out of awful clichés and stereotypes. Blizzard’s hero shooter has never been outright offensive, but fans still spent years shipping⛦ characters together and digging for additional representation that just wasn’t there, hoping that Overwatch would throw us a bone or at least capitalise on its fruity potential instead of being all bark and no bite when it came to its own queerness.
Lifeweaver and Venture have been fundamental changes to that past identity, and I think it’s only a matter of time until a queer relationship among the cast of heroes we already know emerges in full, in-game canon. Despite cutting back its multiplayer mode, it is clear that Blizzard still wants to develop this universe into something meaningful, and this can’t be done without treating your characters, who they are, and whatไ they stand for with the utmost respect.
