Despite my praise for the designs, Overwatch is not a game with in-depth characters - it’s all skin deep. Any attempt to flesh them out usually comes through fine print in the lore, promo reels, or external material like comic books. I understand why fans want these great designs to be built upon further, and I appreciate that a hero shooter all about utilising powers and fast PvP play is not the ideal genre for deep, interconnected stories. Overwatch has two queer characters, which is more than most triple-A games, but it’s hard to give it too much credit when their queerness has been so completely downplayed. It’s often lauded for its diversity - it even once had a GLAAD nomination - but that fact is its two queer characters are white, cis, and straight passing, while there are more playable animals and playable robots than there are playable Black women. That’s not too much of a stretch though, given that there are zero Black women in Overwatch’s heaving roster right now - Sojourn will join in Overwatch 2, but that feels too late for a game with playable 32 charact

Tracer and Soldier 76’s sexuality were confirmed in comics and other supplemental materials, and you’d struggle to see them mentioned in the game itself with the exception of a few small inclusions. Emily, Tracer’s girlfriend, is an optional spray, and the time-zipping agent will mention her briefly in a piece of dialogue in King’s Row, but beyond this it’s slim pickings for the gays in Overwatch. With the sequel set to focus on narrative to a significant degree, I sincerely hope Blizzard does a better job of embracing its queer characters instead of treating them like a dirty little sec

I really hope the initial intention was pure, but the aftermath leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The community has done a better job of portraying queer stories in the Overwatch universe than Blizzard has themselves. Pairings have emerged from chemistry found in the game’s dialogue that its creators failed to capitalise upon, which is the sign of an excellent universe filled with potential. Now, Blizzard just needs to build upon it and treat its canonical queer characters with greater resp

Before you post this on your angry gamer subreddit, hear me out. I think paid video game loot boxes are vile. They are predatory in nature, designed to exploit players and obscure the real cost of in-game items. I think every country in the world should outlaw them, and I’m glad Overwatch got rid of them. At the same time, Overwatch 2’s monetization is terrible. In the transition to free-to-play, we lost the ability to earn things for free. Though I’m mostly positive on the gameplay changes, it’s hard to ignore that Overwatch 2’s progression is worse in almost every way. I don't love admitting it, but Overwatch was better off with loot bo

Overwatch 2 isn’t the only game with expensive cosmetics (have you heard of Pokemon Unite? ) but it might be the only one that’s ever taken previously earnable skins and charged $20 for them. Maybe if you compare Overwatch 2 to similar f2p games like Apex Legends and Fortnite you’ll see that it’s prices are right in line, but no one is comparing Overwatch 2 to Apex Legends, they’re comparing it to Overwatch 2 Esports|Https://Overwatch2Fans.Com/. The justification for a sequel already felt weak, now it just seems like Overwatch 2 only exists so Blizzard can charge more for skins. It’s a dark day when I find myself nostalgic for loot boxes, but that is the free-to-play reality of Overwatc

Main tanks can’t go anywhere, which is just a simple fact. To combat a main tank, you need damage, so if the other team runs two DPS and you run an off-tank, you’re going to feed ultimates like they’ve been brought up with a silver spoon. There’s just no way you’re running one support with two tanks and two DPS either, mostly for the same reason - it will affect the damage/healing balance per team way too much. As a result, the most basic logic available to us suggests each team will be made up of a main tank, two DPS, and two healers - no room for off-tanks. And, as with all metas, team formations are often mirrored. Gr

This is a result of Blizzard gently touching on the queer nature of its characters before running away and never mentioning it again. Fans are forced to draw their own conclusions, and the post-launch announcement that some characters are gay simply feels like performative nonsense. Was this the plan from the start, or did it seem like an easy diversity win when writing the next co

That’s an issue for another day though. Today, I want to focus on the Archives skins, particularly those of our queer characters, Soldier 76 and Tracer. The Archives event is running until April 27, and brings eight new skins to the game, each designed around a given character’s cultural history. Both Soldier 76 and Tracer are included in the event, but it’s extremely telling that neither of their cultural histories includes any reference to queerness. Soldier 76 is becoming Soldier 1776 which, I admit, is a good pun. The American soldier is donning the jacket of the Revolutionaries, these days probably best known from the musical Hamil