Blizzard's list of LGBTQ+ characters and people of color is painfully short

[anon48606302]

I am extremely happy to see the addition of another homosexual character in Overwatch. Revealing Soldier 76 (a typical masculine macho character) as LGBTQ+ will help promote acceptance of LGBTQ+ in other gamers. It is great to see Blizzard’s inclusive approach to their creations.

This, however, seems more like an afterthought rather than anything else. Overwatch came out in 2016, and currently it has only 2 confirmed gay characters out of 29 playable heroes. It took Blizzard approximtely 2.5 years to add them. I know that writing for the game is not easy, but it would seem that Blizzard makes certain characters gay only after being hard-pressed into doing so. It wasn’t until Chris Metzen was asked about the presense of LBGTQ+ heroes in Overwatch before Tracer was confirmed to be a lesbian. I wish Blizzard approached character creation more open-mindedly and considered how underrepresented people of different sexualities are in their games. While having 2 gay characters is a step in the right direction, what about bi or trans folk?

Also, it would seem, that Blizzard has problems when it comes to non-white heroes. Out of 29 heroes, only 2 (two) heroes are dark-skinned (Lucio and Doomfist). While I certainly welcome the increasing diversity of the character cast, adding a hamster and revealing a white male to be gay rather than adding a black woman, for example, is… questionable. It seems that Blizzard still has to work on being an inclusive, sensitive and progressive game company.

I hope that the next hero is a member of a minority group because they are criminally underrepresented in Overwatch. If we get another white male it would tell a few things about Blizzard, and not in a good way. For example, Effie would be a good character to add.

Blizzard is making steps in the right direction of embracing diversity and inclusiveness, but it is too slow and the company still has a long way to go.

[FrankDrebin-21760]

@anon48606302

I hope that the next hero is a member of a minority group

And I hope that the next hero will be balanced and fun to play, in addition I hope his/hers sexuality and political views stay a mystery since a video game is not a platform to push an agenda through.

[Qiu-2594]

Politics out of games. Nobody except Twitter’s virtual signalers cares about what some fictional character prefers, we want the game to be good, we want the Overwatch team to focus on making it good, not on how to promote acceptance.
You want to promote acceptance for LGBTQASDF+ people? Go out in the real world, get into politics and do your thing.
Gaming is our scapegoat from reality, it’s what we use to relieve stress.

Or sure, keep going, as they say: get woke go broke.

[ile123-2919]

No,the last thing we need is this game becoming another game/series that got infested why lefty propaganda

[Welldamn-2154]

If you’re such a hardcore right-wing MAGAtard…what are you even doing playing video games? Aren’t video games as evil as porn to you people? And hey, we can go even further, of all video games, why Overwatch? Since it’s already filled with colour and diversity etc etc, it should be the ultimate evil according to you.

Don’t you have some white pride march to attend?

[Shade-22863]

While i am fond of the lore of heroes, i’m much more fond of their usage and balancedness of the game itself, so i personally do not care for their sexuality or any other trait/status about them. I play video games frequently, i don’t need to know about a fictional characters sexuality. While i have nothing against the LGBTQ+ community, i don’t want something like that forced into games just for the sake of diversity.

@Qiu-2594

Gaming is our scapegoat from reality, it’s what we use to relieve stress.

@FrankDrebin-21760

And I hope that the next hero will be balanced and fun to play, in addition I hope his/hers sexuality and political views stay a mystery since a video game is not a platform to push an agenda through.

I couldn’t have worded something like this better myself.

[MetteH-21923]

As I see it, even if you do focus a lot on OW lore, it’s messed up…

So you can only really get accepted in Overwatch, Talon etc. if you’re a minority that’s not already present. To me, it sounds a lot like Google attempting to have as much diversity in their employees as possible - which is ethically wrong.

Having almost every hero in OW being of different sexuality and ethnicity, would mean they’re purely looking on background and not skill (considering it a real-life scenario)

[SaltyDuffman-2136]

Now that’s a lot aggression and a lot of assuming things about that dude’s opinion without him even saying it.

[Badafarusima-2824]

this is a video game… not a Hollywood left wing political campaign pandering to “Wokeness”

who cares what colour, race, sexual orientation the heros are… so long as they are balanced and bring a fun experience to the game and the player

[ile123-2919]

Omg you are right.How did you know i have a Hitler poster in my room,worship our Lord Trump,hunt minorities like its duck season,have a aryan brotherhood tattoo on my back,…orrrr maybe you are just bra1ndead like every SJW.And please tell me how much people love Mass Effect Andromeda and Battlefield V since they went woke(and broke).

[BrianOrcus-1693]

Why do you have such a problem with straight, white characters?

[FatBluDragon-2951]

I have a problem with straight main characters. It means I can’t love 'em.

Oh wait, they’re fictional…

[urStr8Lover-2986]

@anon48606302

I hope that the next hero is a member of a minority group because they are criminally underrepresented in Overwatch.

Minority? Well, white people are minority in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, RSA … so, I guess, another white male hero will fit perfectly … ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[GrimyHR-21836]

why whenever i write word gay my posts are pending moderator approval?

[Skye-21273]

I actually think they’ve done pretty well with making heroes of all races and species. They even have a hamster for the furry community.

[Badafarusima-2824]

because blizzard are SJW suckboys and must censor anything that could offend the most delicate of snowflakes

[Jaqenoffski-2291]

A bit like Torbjorn then.

[BootyLover-21205]

Yes, the company has a long way to go. They need a hero that is in a wheelchair.

[BartFitz-2928]

@anon48606302

I am extremely happy to see the addition of another homosexual character in Overwatch. Revealing Soldier 76 (a typical masculine macho character) as LGBTQ+ will help promote acceptance of LGBTQ+ in other gamers.

I don’t think it will help. Many people feel like these changes are just forced thanks to the media push, which is especially bitter to many, since the people who are pushing for equality - in video games - in modern journalism don’t actually play the games. You see, some people feel like this trash is just being shoved down their throats.

@anon48606302

This, however, seems more like an afterthought rather than anything else.

Of course you were not going to be happy. Ever heard that saying about an inch and a mile? Yeah.

@anon48606302

Overwatch came out in 2016, and currently it has only 2 confirmed gay characters out of 29 playable heroes.

Yup. With 0 confirmed heterosexual heroes. Now of course we should mention that at least three heroes (Bastion, Zenyatta and Orisa) are robots, and two heroes (Winston and Hammond) are animals, which certainly makes it look more inclusive, right? I mean those just add unnecessary numbers to this story, when looking at it from this angle.

@anon48606302

it would seem that Blizzard makes certain characters gay only after being hard-pressed into doing so.

Gee, I wonder why.

@anon48606302

It wasn’t until Chris Metzen was asked about the presense of LBGTQ+ heroes in Overwatch before Tracer was confirmed to be a lesbian.

Case in point.

@anon48606302

I wish Blizzard approached character creation more open-mindedly and considered how underrepresented people of different sexualities are in their games.

I wish people like yourself and the people at news outlets like Kotaku would realize that this is a game, not real life. As soon as you shove politics into it you just making it sour for everyone. And as far as far as representation goes, why not talk about ideological representation? Would be interesting.

@anon48606302

While having 2 gay characters is a step in the right direction, what about bi or trans folk?

What about them? As soon as the game has enough characters to represent a smaller percentage like trans people there might come one. But don’t worry, I’m sure they are already lurking in the game, enough heat under Activision-Blizzard’s feet and they’ll reveal how Reaper is bisexual, Roadhog is genderfluid, and McCree is all the 100+ different made up labels the + in LGBTQ+ stands for.

@anon48606302

Also, it would seem, that Blizzard has problems when it comes to non-white heroes.

I’ll admit to this one, it’s true. But furthermore, where are the jewish characters? Or anyone with erectile dysfunctionality? I still don’t really give a damn about it though.

@anon48606302

Out of 29 heroes, only 2 (two) heroes are dark-skinned (Lucio and Doomfist).

Well, two are animals, and three are robots, so our standards don’t really apply to them. So it’s 24, not 29.

@anon48606302

While I certainly welcome the increasing diversity of the character cast, adding a hamster and revealing a white male to be gay rather than adding a black woman, for example, is… questionable.

Oh, really? How? Last time I checked this was a video game, not a quota.

@anon48606302

It seems that Blizzard still has to work on being an inclusive, sensitive and progressive game company.

I hope Activision-Blizzard never gets that far. Sensitivity blocks progress.

@anon48606302

I hope that the next hero is a member of a minority group because they are criminally underrepresented in Overwatch.

Again, really? We have 24 human characters, out of that 13 are women, 11 are men, 10 are your traditional white heroes, etc. etc. I’d say it is a fairly good mix, but this all kinda doesn’t matter, since this is still a video game and not a checklist.

@anon48606302

If we get another white male it would tell a few things about Blizzard, and not in a good way.

This almost sounds like you say that adding white males (none of whom have been added to the game since launch, might I add) is somehow racist, sexist, and I am sure many of the other buzzwords progressive people use.

@anon48606302

For example, Effie would be a good character to add.

I’m sure adding a CHILD to the game who can be killed will roll with everyone. Can’t you already see the media outcry?

@anon48606302

Blizzard is making steps in the right direction of embracing diversity and inclusiveness, but it is too slow and the company still has a long way to go.

No. They are forcing diversity on themselves, and again, this only extends to the mainstream diversity. Nobody wants to talk about ideological diversity, but a game setting like Overwatch with the omincs and the hate towards them would be actually very ideal for it. But of course some people don’t actually care about the game and the setting.

I am not sure if this post is serious, or just a troll post to get people lose their minds, but at this point it is just hard to tell because the two sound closer and closer to each other.

I for one don’t mind Soldier being gay. Good for him. But this is some J.K. Rowling level of backpedaling to appeal to a certain group of people. No shame in it, a company has to live from something, and I’m sure this is a bunch of good points in the eyes of the mainstream media.

Anyways, this was my two cents.

[Outploy-2444]

I’m usually passive about these topics and don’t use terms like SJW, but this is too much. I’m really starting to hate these LBGTQ whatever agendas pushed so hard everywhere. Please stop. I have nothing against these people, I just hate when something is shoved down my throat. especially in video games. My source of fun and relax.