The wildly popular ‘Overwatch’ says a ma character is gay. Will this be a step forward for vio gam? - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• BLIZZARD REVEALS THAT SOLDIER: 76 IS GAY - BUT IT ISN’T ENOUGH
• BLIZZARD CONFIRMS TRACER IS GAY NEW OVERWATCH HOLIDAY COMIC
• WHY OVERWATCH'S GAY CHARACTERS ARE SO IMPORTANT
• BLIZZARD FORC NAME CHANGE FOR GAY GUILD
• THE WILDLY POPULAR ‘OVERWATCH’ SAYS A MA CHARACTER IS GAY. WILL THIS BE A STEP FORWARD FOR VIO GAM?
• OVERWATCH SHORT STORY REVEALS MAJOR CHARACTER IS 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. 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.

BLIZZARD CONFIRMS TRACER IS GAY NEW OVERWATCH HOLIDAY COMIC

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.

WHY OVERWATCH'S GAY CHARACTERS ARE SO IMPORTANT

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.

In a recent holiday special edn ic, the creators at Blizzard have nonilly nfirmed Tracer as beg a gay woman. Blizzard has been alludg to the fact that an openly gay character exists Overwatch for some time, first wh mors and then wh hts alludg to the fact that would be revealed soon. The llaboratn aims to aid the Center’s missn to advote on behalf of the Orange County Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Queer/Qutng muni and provi servic that ensure s well-beg and posive inty.

BLIZZARD FORC NAME CHANGE FOR GAY GUILD

Will Zarya — who already has a vol fanbase celebratg her as a gay in — be revealed to be nonilly lbian? "They mentn 'plural' [LGBTQ Overwatch characters], and if Zarya isn't one, I'm gog to be very upset ed, " Reddor happon wrote the /r/gaymers subredd rponse to one er plag that Zarya was too stereotypilly lbian. "Another menter the /r/Overwatch subredd said they hoped Mei would be tablished as nonilly gay, particularly light of the way she ldly tells Junkrat to "look somewhere else" when he mak a remark about her wter, the /r/Overwatch subredd seems to be filled wh humoro, lighthearted ments between the legimate speculatn.

For example, reddor le_sweetie_man said:Select groups of self proclaimed hardre gamers are sexist, racist and homophobic wh a strange abily to adm that they are.

Blizzard Entertament's Overwatch has helped the gamg dtry take a major step forward wh the nfirmatn that Soldier 76 is gay.

THE WILDLY POPULAR ‘OVERWATCH’ SAYS A MA CHARACTER IS GAY. WILL THIS BE A STEP FORWARD FOR VIO GAM?

It's exceedgly rare for a vio game protagonist to be a member of the LGBTQ muny, wh only a handful of gay characters (like Ellie om The Last of Us) playg major rol gamg narrativ. In gamg, cisgenr, heterosexual characters are the norm, and to make matters worse, there’s an entire subsectn of gamg culture that sually homosexualy as a punchle or sult, if not beg outright hostile to people who openly intify as LGBTQ. That’s why matters when major characters one of the most popular multiplayer gam the world are revealed to be gay.

Blizzard Entertament recently revealed that Soldier 76 is gay, jog his fellow Overwatch character Tracer as two of the most high-profile gay characters gamg. RELATED: Overwatch Short Story Confirms Soldier: 76 Is Gay. Chu even posted to Twter to nfirm that wasn’t a one-time hookup, that Soldier 76 is, fact, gay.

By makg both of them gay, Blizzard is forcg players who may have been hant to embrace LGBTQ characters to realize they’re as valuable as anyone else the game, and not jt as romantic optns. For years, slurs have been thrown around as blanket sults durg onle gamg ssns, wh gay vio game streamers havg been beltled, threatened and seeg their personal rmatn released by the hateful sectn of gamg that is openly homophobic.

OVERWATCH SHORT STORY REVEALS MAJOR CHARACTER IS GAY

A group of Fallout 76 players who harassed players by nng around killg “all gays” have received lifetime bans om the game. SonicFox, a 20-year old pro gamer who is openly gay, won the award for Bt Esports Player of the Year at the 2018 Game Awards. And makg a mastream, major character like Soldier 76 openly gay, while allowg him to be the face of one of the biggt anchis currently out there, is a major step the right directn.

Publisher renam "Gay Boys" as "Guild ZFXPK" rponse to player reports, chang back but says n't stop happeng aga. Ars Techni today reported that Blizzard forced a guild by the name of "Gay Boys" to change s name this week a move that echoed a 2006 crackdown on one player's efforts to set up an "LGB iendly" player guild. On Wednday, Blizzard changed the guild's name om Gay Boys to Guild ZFXPK, wh a Blizzard Ctomer Service email explag that the change was ma after "your fellow players reported your -game name as appropriate multiple tim.