Blizzard has revealed that the upcoming Pride event inOverwatch 2will be blocked in certain countries in an attempt to protect players in less tolerant regions. The highly-anticipated release ofOverwatch 2last year has come with its fair share of controversy throughout the first nearly eight months of its life. Many fans have criticized the sequel for not bringing enough meaningful changes to its predecessor, in particular with its recent announcement aboutthe shooter’s PvE story campaign. Now, Blizzard has revealed it will limit its Pride Month festivities in certain regions.
Blizzard would officially confirm a special event to celebrate Pride Month inOverwatch 2earlier this year, bringing plenty of exclusive content to the popular hero shooter. The event will include a variety of cosmetics for players to acquire based on the LGBT+ movement, as well as name cards for others like Asexual, Genderfluid, and more. One ofOverwatch’s most prominent openly gay characters, Tracer, will also receive a new spray featuring her and her partner Emily. Now, however, Blizzard has confirmed not all players will be able to join in on the celebration.
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A recent update has confirmed that certainOverwatch 2regions will not receivethe upcoming Pride Month event, in the aim of protecting players. The developer has confirmed the event will not run in countries with strict anti-LGBT+ laws, intended to protect players from getting into legal trouble for the event.Overwatch 2Senior Game Producer Brandy Stiles would also confirm the event will be “opt-in” in all countries, giving players the choice to express themselves or not. Blizzard did not reveal the list of countries barred from the event at the time.
Overwatch 2’s upcoming Pride Month-themed event won’t be the first time the hero shooter has pushed inclusivity as a main message of the game. As previously mentioned, one of the game’s most popular characters in Tracer has long been confirmed to have a female partner.Overwatch 2has also featured multiple LGBT+ charactersincluding references to Baptiste’s sexuality, as well as new character Lifeweaver confirmed to be pansexual. Soldier 76 was also previously revealed to be gay through an officialOverwatchshort story.
Overwatch 2has seen a difficult journey since the highly anticipated sequel first launched in October of last year. Despite the sequel adding several new characters and changing the main game mode to 5v5, fans were critical ofOverwatch 2for what felt more like a large update than a full-fledged sequel. Blizzard had also heavily marketed the game’s PvE campaign before its release, only to later confirmthe new campaign had been scrapped.Overwatch 2’s Pride Month event looks to provide a bright spot after a difficult stretch for fans.
Overwatch 2is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
