Meet Venture, The First Non-Binary Character in ‘Overwatch 2’!

Games Nonbinary

2023-11-13
14:00

‘Overwatch 2’ is finally getting its first non-binary hero, Venture, which puts more LGBTQ+ representation to the highly popular game.

At BlizzCon 23, a convention by game developer and publisher Blizzard Entertainment, during a panel discussion for ‘Overwatch 2’, developers shared gameplay footage of their new damage hero, Venture, who uses they/them pronouns. This makes Venture the game’s first non-binary character in its history and the sixth queer character.

The game so far has had two lesbian characters (Tracy and Pharah), a gay character (Soldier: 76), a pansexual character (Lifeweaver), and a bisexual character (Baptiste).

According to the developers, Venture is a Canadian archaeologist who wields a multifunctional drill that shoots projectiles and digs under the map. ‘Overwatch 2’ game director Aaron Keller said Venture “can burst up out of the ground to do additional damage. They move around the map really well.”

Check out the clip of the gameplay preview from BlizzCon 23 below:

NEW HERO ALERT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL… or is it? 😉

Take a first look at some early gameplay of the new Damage Hero, Venture ⛏️

Venture arrives next year in Season 10 ✨ pic.twitter.com/Gyg27LvvWM

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) November 4, 2023

Interestingly, Venture’s announcement comes a few months after the game had its first-ever in-game Pride Event held last June 1. In an interview with Polygon, Keller said that they “wanted Pride, in the game, the event that we’re running, we wanted it to feel like the game is reflecting what’s happening in the real world.” During this event, players could add cosmetics based on flags representing different sexual identities.

Players will have to wait, however, until next year, as Venture is expected to become playable around March 2024 for the game’s season 10.

Sources: (1) (2) (3)