Blizzard to remove “sexy” Tracer victory pose in Overwatch following fan complaints

The ‘over-the-shoulder’ victory pose will be replaced after comments that it “undermines” the game’s strong cast of diverse female characters.

Posting on the Battle.net forums, one user, Fipps, believes the pose twists Tracer into “another bland female sex symbol.”

“We aren’t looking at a Widowmaker pose here, this isn’t a character who is in part defined by flaunting her sexuality. This pose says to the player base, oh we’ve got all these cool diverse characters, but at any moment we are willing to reduce them to sex symbols to help boost our investment game,”  Fipps wrote in a post.

“I have a young daughter that everyday when I wake up wants to watch the Recall trailer again. She knows who Tracer is, and as she grows up, she can grow up alongside these characters.”

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Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan responded by saying Blizzard intends to replace the pose, and “will try to do better” in the future.

“The last thing we want to do is make someone feel uncomfortable, under-appreciated or misrepresented,” said Kaplan. “Apologies and we’ll continue to try to do better.”

Tracer’s character won’t be changed in any way, so the removal of the pose is purely aesthetic. If it makes fans uncomfortable it’s hard to see the downside of such a decision.

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Kaplan’s response has since received hundreds of replies, prompting a follow-up post from the developer.

“We understand that not everyone will agree with our decision, and that’s okay,” said Kaplan. “This wasn’t pandering or caving, though. This was the right call from our perspective, and we think the game will be just as fun the next time you play it.”

Overwatch has a variety of diverse and imaginative characters, and it’s great to see Blizzard listening and acting upon fan feedback to make them the best they can be.

The game will launch on May 24 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.