Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Overwatch 2 has released a new short story confirming two more LGBTQ+ heroes in the roster.
Blizzard has announced Overwatch 2’s first-ever Pride event, which introduces new cosmetics meant to add more queer representation to the game. To kick off the event, the developer released a new short story called ‘As You Are’, which confirms two additional LGBTQ+ heroes in the playable roster: Baptiste and Pharah.
This is one of Overwatch 2’s smaller events, as it doesn’t consist of voicelines or a new game mode. What it does add are a bunch of new cosmetics in the form of Player Icons and Name Cards. These are themed after flags representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual, non-binary, pansexual and more identities, with a full list available on Blizzard’s blog.
There are also hero-specific versions of these Name Cards, such as a lesbian card for Tracer, a gay card for Soldier: 76, a pansexual card for Lifeweaver, a bisexual card for Baptiste and a lesbian card for Pharah. All of these cosmetics will be redeemed automatically by any player who logs into Overwatch 2 from June 1 onwards, to celebrate Pride Month. An updated version of the Midtown map will also be available throughout June, set right after a huge Pride parade has taken place.
The new short story ‘As You Are’ confirmed that Baptiste is bisexual and Pharah is lesbian, adding more queer representation in the game’s playable roster. The short story takes place during Cole Cassidy and his recruits’ journey to Watchpoint: Gibraltar, where the group plans to convene with the rest of the modern-day Overwatch team and discuss next steps. Cassidy had previously travelled around the globe to rope D.Va, Pharah, Baptiste and Zarya into joining Overwatch, as seen in the comic series Overwatch: New Blood.
As the newly-formed team flies back to the former Overwatch headquarters to meet Tracer, Mercy, Mei, Winston and the rest of the team, Baptiste and Pharah share a quiet moment together where they discuss their anxieties regarding the Recall. Pharah admits some difficulty in seeing old faces like Mercy’s again, hinting that there were some unreciprocated feelings shared between the two. Baptiste admits that he finds Cassidy attractive, but isn’t sure he belongs with the team yet, given his past with Talon.
Blizzard plans to add more Pride-themed content to the game over time, but that might not happen this season or even the next, given that the developer has quite a robust roadmap for Overwatch 2 in 2023. Unfortunately, that roadmap won’t include PvE Hero Missions, seeing as those have been cut from the game entirely.