Blizzard announced a few plans for Overwatch 2 Pride celebrations and confirmed a few tidbits about certain heroes’ relationships. This is the multiplayer game’s first Pride celebration since the original Overwatch launched in 2016, and while it is, admittedly, a bit sparse, Blizzard is promising more character stories and plans to celebrate Overwatch 2’s LGBTQIA+ community in the coming seasons and PvE content.
“Overwatch 2 is a joyful escape for millions of players worldwide,” Blizzard said in the announcement. “We always set out to create a futuristic world that is worth fighting for, where everyone feels seen and celebrated. This game is only worthy of that hopeful world if people can connect with our heroes and see themselves in the universe. We want Pride to be that for our players.”
Starting June 1, 2023, everyone who logs in to Overwatch 2 will receive a range of nametags and player icons to celebrate Pride month. These include player icons with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and genderfluid flags, among others, alongside nameplates featuring Lifeweaver, Tracer, Soldier 76, Pharah, and Baptiste.
Midtown, the hybrid map based on New York City, is getting a makeover during June, with Pride flags and other decorations indicative of a large Pride parade. Watchpoint: Gibraltar is also getting a small, permanent change: a picture of Tracer and her partner Emily in the barracks. While Blizzard made it known that Tracer is a lesbian years ago, there’s only a random voice line in the King’s Row map to indicate it.
Soldier 76 is a gay man, though there’s not really anything to indicate that in the game anymore.
Blizzard also confirmed in a new short story that Pharah is a lesbian, Pharmercy (Pharah and Mercy) is an official relationship, and Baptiste is a bisexual man, all of which the Overwatch community speculated to begin with.
Finally is a new range of merchandise in Blizzard’s online shop, curated by the Blizzard LGBT+ Employee Network. Net proceeds from the collection, from May 16, 2023, through June 30, 2023, will go to the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
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