Soldier 76 Gay? Bi? 'Overwatch' Fans, Devs And Shippers React to 'Bastet' Bombshell (UPDATE)

Contents:

• NEW OVERWATCH LORE CONFIRMS SOLDIER 76 IS GAY, AND CHOSE HIS MISSN OVER HIS RELATNSHIP
• A NEW OVERWATCH SHORT STORY REVEALS THAT SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY
• BLIZZARD REVEALS THAT SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY - BUT IT ISN’T ENOUGH
• "OVERWATCH" HERO SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY AND THE REACTNS ARE JT THE BT
• SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY, BUT OVERWATCH STILL MAK FANS WORK FOR QUEER REPRENTATN
• IS SOLDIER 76 STILL GAY?
• NEW 'OVERWATCH' SHORT STORY CONFIRMS MAJOR CHARACTER IS GAY
• OVERWATCH’S LATT GAY HERO IS GREAT, BUT LET’S NOT PRAISE BLIZZARD JT YET
• SOLDIER 76 GAY? BI? 'OVERWATCH' FANS, DEVS AND SHIPPERS REACT TO 'BASTET' BOMBSHELL (UPDATE)

NEW OVERWATCH LORE CONFIRMS SOLDIER 76 IS GAY, AND CHOSE HIS MISSN OVER HIS RELATNSHIP

Soldier 76, the crotchety old soldier Overwatch, is now nonilly gay acrdg to a recent short story. New Overwatch Lore Confirms Soldier 76 Is Gay, And Chose His Missn Over His Relatnship. Overwatch’s latt short story nfirms that Soldier 76 is totally gay, but uldn’t balance a relatnship wh his duti as a soldier.

He’s gay.

A NEW OVERWATCH SHORT STORY REVEALS THAT SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY

In se there was any ambiguy, Michael Chu tweeted out that y, Soldier 76 is gay and nothg else. Will this mean we’ll get a somewhat more fabulo Soldier 76 sk for this year’s gay pri season? While ’s neat that Soldier 76 is Overwatch’s send gay character after Tracer, what’s far more ntroversial is the fact that Ana is now nonilly a furry after donng the tular Bastet mask at the end of the story.

It also tablish the Overwatch non that John Francis "Jack" Morrison, the all-Amerin boy who joed the ary at age 18 to fight the Omnic Crisis and ultimately beme Soldier: 76, is gay. Both intify as gay.

Two years ago, Blizzard revealed that Tracer, the "face" of Overwatch, is gay. Update: A tweet om lead wrer Michael Chu nfirms that Soldier intifi as gay. “Both intify as gay.

BLIZZARD REVEALS THAT SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY - BUT IT ISN’T ENOUGH

Blizzard reveals that Overwatch's Soldier: 76 is gay - but they n do better than an isolated short story that might also be a PR distractn. Related: How Pennywise and The Babadook Beme Gay Ins.

Fans had so many qutns that the wrer of the piece, Michael Chu, took to Twter to nfirm that, y, Jack Morrison is a gay man. The problem to foc when we take a step back and realize that a huge portn of the fan base, the nsole players, never see the one piece of story ntent that picts Soldier: 76 as beg gay.

"OVERWATCH" HERO SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY AND THE REACTNS ARE JT THE BT

We would all do well to remember that, bee as fantastic as is that Overwatch now has a playable, nonilly gay character, Blizzard is a lossal rporatn. They played safe wh the reveal that Jack Morrison is gay, relegatg to an piece of world-buildg lore that only a mory of players will see.

SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY, BUT OVERWATCH STILL MAK FANS WORK FOR QUEER REPRENTATN

Rowlg famoly clared that Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore was gay years after the re books were fished whout ever puttg that to the actual text of her works. Blizzard's Very Convenient Gay Smokcreen. The January 7 announcement of a gay Soldier: 76 giv the game a major posive PR boost and shifts the story away om narrativ about harassment the muny and the subset of toxic profsnal players.

However, nothg about the story or what was clud the update self directly speaks to Soldier: 76 as a gay man that uldn't have been done sce Jeff Kaplan teased the update on January 4. If we put on some til nspiracy hats, isn't a huge stretch to nsir that a huge pany might leverage an upg short story release to clu a brief alln to a gay romance.

And we've jt learned that he's gay.

IS SOLDIER 76 STILL GAY?

What a joyo time to be a gaymer.

SOLDIER 76 IS GAY.

IF YOURE PLAYING A GAY IN THE VIDEO GAME WORLD. YOURE GAY IN REAL LIFE. However, bigger than new lore was that the story revealed Soldier: 76, the game’s grizzled Capta Ameri-analog, as the send explicly gay character the game’s roster.

NEW 'OVERWATCH' SHORT STORY CONFIRMS MAJOR CHARACTER IS GAY

Soldier: 76 beg gay jt serv to highlight the game’s — and s veloper’s — strange attempts to grapple wh storytellg and inty. That often allows the wispread streak of homophobic toxicy that has been bred the gamg muny for s to persist around Blizzard gam.

Makg Soldier gay, more so than even Tracer, is harr to reckon wh given the muny and the pany’s propensy to play around wh homophobic ncepts that directly impact queer men. Beg gay is simply a bullet pot that ss next to two characters, wh no other velopment.

OVERWATCH’S LATT GAY HERO IS GREAT, BUT LET’S NOT PRAISE BLIZZARD JT YET

Given the lack of queer characters gamg, we should be happy wh an olr gay man Overwatch, spe him beg unrwrten. Fans went to Twter to ask Michael Chu, lead wrer, to nfirm that was a former lover; Chu did so, and clarified that both intify as gay.

SOLDIER 76 GAY? BI? 'OVERWATCH' FANS, DEVS AND SHIPPERS REACT TO 'BASTET' BOMBSHELL (UPDATE)

They also give players a lot of berth to pletely ignore the relatnship and the homosexualy. It also don’t upset those fans Blizzard prevly urted wh a more “apolil” approach that routely mak gay men the butt of s game’s jok. But we all know they are still angry Soldier: 76 is a gay man at all.