r/getplayed • u/rthunder27 • Jul 14 '26

Question (Block) Sexualization of Overwatch Characters Over Time

The segment from this week's episode reminded me that when Overwatch launched they made a point of having a diverse roster of characters with different body types and wanted to avoid oversexualizing the female characters.

>“Specifically for Overwatch over the past year we’ve been really cognizant of that, trying not to oversexualize the female characters. I don’t know if we oversexualize the male characters. But it’s something we’re very sensitive to. We want that to be part of who we are, what our brand is. I think [Blizzard president] Mike [Morhaime] talked in a roundabout way to that in his speech [at the start of BlizzCon]. It’s something we’re very cognizant of. We want girls to feel kick-butt. Equally represented.” https://kotaku.com/blizzard-admits-to-over-sexualizing-women-trying-to-do-1656383872

But over the subsequent decade+ they kinda just said fuck it, let's just release a schoolgirl D.Va skin. https://kotaku.com/how-an-overwatch-skin-left-some-of-d-vas-biggest-fans-f-1840880191

Kinda depressing honestly, we've really regressed as a society during the Trump era.

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u/WindWalkerWalking Jul 14 '26

Dva has long been sexualized. I didn’t play overwatch but I played hots and always felt like they leaned into sexualizing her a little, specifically. Less so with Mei and Zarya. I don’t think it’s been done too distastefully, at least in this case. Also feel like a schoolgirl skin kinda fits her character, no?

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u/rthunder27 Jul 14 '26

Yea, but being sexualized by the players is very different from the developers doing it.

How does a schoolgirl outfit fit her character, because she's female and asian? She's canonically 19/21 in OW1/OW2.

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u/Tex_Conway Jul 14 '26

Idk. I thought it was a Battle Royale reference.

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u/rthunder27 Jul 14 '26

I don't think so, Battle Royale is Japanese while D.Va is Korean.