Blizzard Entertainment Inc. has taken plenty of flak over the years for developing characters that feed into certain stereotypes.
Now the Irvine-based company is being lauded in gaming circles for taking a leadership position in the industry to diversify characters and roles with the introduction of a lesbian time traveler in its hit video game “Overwatch.”
Developers of the first-person shooter game, which has sold more than 30 million copies since its release about a year ago, didn’t set out for that specific goal when they created dozens of characters and accompanying storylines, according to game director Jeff Kaplan.
“What we cared about was creating a game, and game universe and world where everybody felt welcome,” Kaplan said in a February keynote at D.I.C.E., or Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain Summit, in Las Vegas. “Really the goal was inclusivity and open mindedness.”
Enter Tracer, a dual-pistol toting hero that deploys energy time bombs and zips through space.
She has a girlfriend name Emily, who was first introduced in December in “Reflection,” a digital comic in “Overwatch” penned by Blizzard lead writer and senior designer Michael Chu.
The series explored the home life of the game’s heroes, featuring storylines with deeper perspectives on life, love, friction, despair, triumph and growth while exploring some new character roles.
Ana, for instance, is an Egyptian sniper in her later years, wrestling with a strained relationship with her daughter.
“We feel having variety in our characters and their identities and backgrounds helps create a richer and deeper overall fictional universe,” Blizzard spokesperson Dustin Blackwell told the Business Journal. “It was decided from the very beginning of our work on Tracer’s story that this would be an aspect of her character. It just felt right to us.”
Mat Milizia, co-founder of Irvine-based startup Frostkeep Studios, applauded Blizzard for developing characters that resonate with players’ ethnicities and sexual preference.
“My hats off to them for stepping out on that ledge sometime and giving people characters they can relate to,” said Milizia, a former 3-D artist at Blizzard and Riot Games. “It’s a lot of work to do it and I’m glad people are spending the time to do it.”
Others Join
It appears other content creators in the video game and comic book industry are also moving in a more inclusive direction.
Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One avatar store is initiating a big upgrade this fall that will let users select gender-neutral clothing for their digital characters, as well as other items, like wheelchairs. Players can also opt for pregnant bellies or depict their avatar as an amputee.
Video game publishers have featured gay, bisexual and transgender characters since the mid-1980s but often in minor roles or in ambiguous situations. Popular titles that have incorporated such characters include “Super Mario Brothers 2,” “Streets of Rage 3,” “Street Fighter 2” and the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise.
The Kickstarter-funded documentary, “Gaming in Color,” released in 2015, explores the challenges and experiences of women, and LGBT gamers and developers.
“La Borinqueña,” a graphic novel that features a young Puerto Rican women as the superhero, has gained widespread acclaim since its December release by Brooklyn-based Somos Arte LLC.
The story centers on a Columbia University undergraduate student from Brooklyn who visits Puerto Rico and finds special crystals that give her powers to fly and control storms. The first edition, which costs $20, is nearly sold out. The artist, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, is a New Jersey native who briefly lived in Puerto Rico as a child.
Record Sales
“Overwatch,” Blizzard’s first new franchise in 18 years, had the strongest launch-year financial performance of any game in the company’s 26-year history. The title, released about a year ago on PlayStation, Windows and Xbox One—Blizzard’s first launch on Microsoft’s console—took less than 12 months to become a $1 billion business.
It’s also the foundation for this year’s launch of the “Overwatch” League, which could rival the largest esports competitions in the world.
Blizzard is Orange County’s largest software maker, employing 2,000 in OC and more than 4,000 worldwide. It posted record sales last year of $2.4 billion, up 55% from 2015, with operating income of roughly $1 billion, up 81%.
The company has made strides to address diversity in its games and promote that evolution with its legion of fans across the globe. Tracer, for instance, is on the cover of “Overwatch.”
Co-founder and Chief Executive Michael Morhaime was one of the few local business leaders to publicly criticize President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which has affected some Blizzard engineers.
The U.S. Supreme Court in October will review two lawsuits related to the order that bans travel to the U.S. from six predominantly Muslim countries. The high court, in the interim, set some limits on travel while they assess executive powers related to the border.
In a February email to employees Morhaime said the order strikes an “incredibly sharp contrast” with the values of the company, which strives for “inclusion, embraces diversity, and treats one another with respect.”
It’s a similar message that Kaplan conveyed about “Overwatch” to the D.I.C.E. Summit audience.
“Diversity is a beautiful end result that you get when you embrace inclusivity and open mindedness,” he said.
