Players of Overwatch 2 have pointed out that Blizzard has removed a police car from the Pride edition of New York City’s Midtown area. The first-ever Overwatch 2 Pride event has been a bit of a miss for fans, with some calling it “underwhelming” while others are glad to see Blizzard honor the LGBT community in any capacity.
Fans have observed that in addition to the revised versions of the maps that incorporate colorful iconographies associated with Pride, such as flags and crosswalks, another noteworthy change has been implemented. On the usual map of Midtown, there is a car from the New York Police Department located at the second point; however, for the Pride event, this car has been replaced.
Removing the police car for the Pride event in Overwatch 2 has sparked controversy
Twitter user ‘Hazelet’ made the change known and applauded the decision in a post that quickly became popular on social media. She could not contain her excitement as she cried, “They got rid of the NYPD Car in the Pride version of Midtown!” “This is perfect for me!” “No cops at pride, based,” commented one user who was pleased with the outcome.
For a long time, police presence at Pride celebrations has been a contentious issue, to the point where some events have banned police presence to “create safer spaces” for members of underrepresented communities. On the other hand, many consider this action unfairly biased against police officers. Users also pointed out that it is a bit strange for the heroes of Overwatch 2 to be attending a Pride event that does not let police to be present, given that Overwatch as a team acts like a police force in a manner comparable to that of a group such as The Avengers.
A supporter commented, “They should also remove the group of supercops that call themselves Overwatch!” Some players thought the developers were trying to make a political statement and vowed to stop playing the game because of it. One wrote, “Alright, I might stop playing Overwatch… If they did this on purpose to defund the police-style thing, then I can’t support them because it was intentional. This is not close to being the first time the OW2 Pride event has been mired in controversy. Fans have complained that it won’t be available in some countries because of laws that prohibit LGBT-related content in such nations.
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