Pride Month returns to Overwatch 2! Pride season is a time where folks across the globe gather to celebrate and bring visibility to both the challenges as well as the joys surrounding the LGBTQ+ community. The passion shared by the Overwatch community is a constant source of inspiration and support, as we recently witnessed with the welcome and love you extended our latest LGBTQ+ heroes, Lifeweaver and Venture. All of the time, we see amazing community created fan art and cosplay of our diverse heroes and their stories. Overwatch 2 would not be the game it is without heroes, and that includes our players who have the courage to stand up and show the world who they are. Which is why we’re celebrating Pride with you, the Overwatch 2 community.
Get to Know Our LGBTQ+ Creators
Throughout the month of June, we’re featuring some of our popular content creators from the LGBTQ+ community. We’ll sit down with a few of these creators in a series of blog posts to learn more about how their positivity has influenced the community, along with how Overwatch has impacted them. You’ll learn about their favorite heroes and maybe pick up a few tips and tricks from them that you can bring to your next game.
Then tune into Twitch from June 3 to June 14 and check out many of our LGBTQ+ creators featured on Battle.net and in-game on the Overwatch 2 News Feed. Whether you like cozy vibes, competitive skill, or crazy antics, almost anything goes in these creators’ streams. Here is the full schedule:
- Monday, June 3 at 8 AM PDT – Somnus
- Tuesday, June 4 at 9 AM PDT – Skiesti
- Wednesday, June 5 at 2 PM PDT – Bellaboo
- Thursday, June 6 at 12 PM PDT – Emiliath
- Friday, June 7 at 5 PM PDT – ErinFPS
- Monday, June 10 at 9 AM PDT – Eskay
- Tuesday, June 11 at 1 PM PDT – OWGrandma
- Wednesday, June 12 at 8 AM PDT – Fitzyhere
- Thursday, June 13 at 8 AM PDT – Deshaawnn
- Friday, June 14 at 11 AM PDT – Fareeha
Watch Calling All Heroes and Earn New Drops
Calling All Heroes is our competitive esports series that provides an inclusive environment that helps support aspiring competitors of marginalized genders, including those who present themselves as Trans, Non-Binary, and Genderqueer. The 2024-2025 Calling All Heroes season kicked off last weekend, with the Major 1 Swiss Rounds already delivering exciting matches. Tune in to twitch.tv/ow_esports from June 8 to June 9 as the top eight teams in both the Rising Series and the Challenger Series compete in a double-elimination bracket for circuit points and cash prizes.
When you tune in to watch Calling All Heroes, you’ll also be able to earn new drops available throughout the weekend, including the new Monarch Rare skin for Venture! Be sure to follow @OW_Esports on socials for updates on all Calling All Heroes action.
Time For a New (Ad)Venture
If you are looking to learn more about our quirky and intrepid explorer, then get ready to dig into a whole new journey in Venture’s new comic. While on an archaeological mission at Ilios, Venture is set upon by Mauga and a troop of Talon agents! As the goons loot the archaeological site, Venture faces a desperate choice: heft their drill and join the fight, or cower in fear of the villains. Will Venture summon the courage to defend Ilios? And just why is Talon looting these ruins? Find out when Venture’s Adventures: Tangle with Talon premieres on June 7.
Want to learn more about some of our other heroes’ diverse backstories? We’ve got you covered. See how Tracer’s partner, Emily, keeps her down to earth in the comics Reflections and London Calling. Glance into Soldier: 76’s past and what he fought for during the Omnic Crisis in the short story Bastet. Discover how Pharah and Baptiste come to terms with their choice to join Overwatch in the short story As You Are. Finally, explore the carefree nature of Lifeweaver when you step foot onto the Atlantic Arcology in the short story Rebuilding Ruins.
A Festival of Pride
All month long, the Pride Festival variant returns to the Midtown Hybrid map. This colorful map variant brings rainbows of confetti falling from the sky, and flags raised high on the surrounding buildings. It’s a vibrant and exciting trek as you navigate the payload through the city streets that follow the footsteps of a local Pride parade. Festivals like this one help celebrate and remember what Pride means—showing that everyone’s true self is authentic and beautiful, and no one else can change that. So, look forward to playing on this map as you queue for Unranked and Competitive games, or play the map directly in a dedicated play card on the Arcade.
You can also equip Pride-themed Player Icons and cosmetics, always available and unlocked in your career profile. You may have noticed that alongside Venture’s premiere this season, we already added new Venture Pride Name Cards celebrating them as our first trans non-binary hero in Overwatch 2. It was important to us to immediately have these cosmetics available with their release and show that we celebrate our heroes for who they are all year round.
Supporting the Trevor Project All Month Long
Outside of the game, head to the Blizzard Gear store and pick up some new threads from the 2024 Blizzard Pride Collection. Led through the Blizzard LGBT+ Employee Network, the Blizzard Pride Collection features Pride-themed apparel benefitting* The Trevor Project from May 15 through June 30, 2024.
Blizzard Entertainment and the Blizzard LGBT+ Employee Network are incredibly proud to be working with The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) young people. For more information about The Trevor Project, please visit thetrevorproject.org.
Overwatch 2 will always be a welcoming place where heroes like you are part of a bright and diverse community. Join us as we celebrate Pride this month and all year long, and let’s make a great game together.
*From May 15,2024 to June 30, 2024, Blizzard Entertainment will donate 100% of the amount Blizzard receives from Blizzard’s e-commerce store operator from the sale of each of the products from the 2024 Blizzard Pride Collection to The Trevor Project. This represents approximately 25% of the purchase price (less any chargebacks, refunds, and Value Added Taxes (VAT), or other similar taxes paid.)