Overwatch’s latest comic isn’t being released in Russia

No gay old time for our comrades

I have actually yet to play Overwatch, so I didn’t have any expectations in regards to certain characters’ backgrounds. Tracer being gay doesn’t make me angry or feel cheated, I’m just happy that we can finally have an openly gay character not be defined by their sexual orientation. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to shoehorn that into the actual game, so having it explained in a piece of external lore was tasteful, in my opinion. I guess not everyone would be happy with Tracer coming out of the closet, though.

According to a post over on Eurogamer (and confirmed by Blizzard), the Overwatch comic “Reflections” will not be releasing in Russia in accordance with their anti-LGBT laws. Anything that is seen as “gay propaganda” is deemed illegal and it doesn’t seem like Blizzard is willing to fight with the Russian government over this. What should be noted, though, is that the comic wasn’t banned, just that Blizzard decided to skip releasing it in the country.

Some of you may notice that this sounds awfully similar to a situation with FIFA 17 earlier this month and you would be correct. With that title, post-release DLC was made to promote the Rainbow Laces campaign and the Russian government took issue with it promoting a gay agenda. The game may even ultimately be banned, which is just insane. How is this happening in the modern era?

While I’m almost certain the comic would ultimately get banned if released, I’m mostly surprised that Blizzard didn’t stick to its guns and push for a release anyway. I know it obviously cares a great deal about its IPs, but this almost seems as if it doesn’t believe the battle is worth the effort. I suppose we can’t change the laws of a government overnight, but staying quiet on the situation isn’t how change takes hold.

Overwatch webcomic not released in Russia over gay character [Eurogamer]