Overwatch

2016 Was A Great Year For ‘Shipping Our Favorite Characters

Ever loved a piece of fiction so much you never wanted it to end? That’s what fandom is for. While transformative works like fanfiction and fanart can serve more serious purposes like exploring subtextual themes or fixing up plot holes, sometimes it has a less lofty goal: getting two cute characters to kiss. Here’s what…

Tracer And Emily Cosplay Celebrates Romantic Overwatch Christmas 

It’s been scarcely a week since we learned Tracer was gay and in love with with Emily. Within days there was already some quick Overwatch cosplay thrown together to celebrate their canonical relationship, and now Fenix Fatalist (Tracer) has taken things to the next level with Lei Radna (as Emily) Photos by Alexander Bootsman. Cosplay…

Heather Alexandra’s Top Ten Games Of 2016

If there’s one thing I do for this site, it’s play a ton of games. 2016 was an amazing year and offered some of the best video games in recent memory. I sat down to list my personal favorites for our year in review. 10. Tyranny Obsidian’s latest RPG is compelling and prescient given today’s…

Tracer’s Kiss, Now In Cosplay Form

Give Overwatch fans what they want and they will repay the internet in kind. OK, so it’s not the most complex Overwatch cosplay, hence the speed at which it could be put together, but still, cute gag. Tracer is ReaganKathryn, Emily is Ashlynne Dae. Photo by thedogeman

Sounds like Overwatch is gonna get some cool additions next year. Jeff Kaplan said multiple new heroes and maps are in the works for 2017, as are a custom game server browser, esports features, and custom spray/emote wheels. Blizzard still hasn’t confirmed that every hero is gay, but I think it’s only a matter of…

Our Favorite Things About Overwatch‘s Big Winter Update

This week on our semi-regular Overwatch show, Cecilia, Heather, and I discuss the big Winter Wonderland update. Come for a surprisingly heated debate about Roadhog’s holiday skin, and stay for in-depth talk and tips for Mei’s Snowball Offensive and nu-Symmetra. Are you digging the new update? What do you think of Mei’s Snowball Offensive? How…

The Internet Reacts To Tracer And Her Girlfriend

Yesterday, Blizzard released an Overwatch comic for the winter holidays that revealed something important about the character Tracer: she doesn’t need to wear her chronal accelerator at all times! Oh, also she has a girlfriend. If you haven’t read the comic, here’s a brief recap: If you’re still not getting it, Tumblr user greatlordfluffernutter has…

Overwatch Comic Not Released In Russia Because Of Gay Propaganda Law

Today’s new Overwatch comic was delightful and, among other things, revealed that Tracer is queer. She shares a nice smooch with her partner, Emily, and that’s pretty much the end of it. It is, however, a bit much for Russia. As pointed out by Twitter users like Malkythera, the comic is unreadable on the Russian…

Our Thoughts On Overwatch‘s Tracer Being Gay

With the release of Overwatch’s holiday comic, gamers saw the game’s first openly gay character: Tracer. Many of us here at Kotaku, an Overwatch fansite, took time to sit down and reflect on how Blizzard has treated the topic of diversity in our favorite team based shooter. Update—5:40 p.m.: Shortly after publication, Blizzard sent Kotaku…

New Overwatch Comic Is Full Of Holiday Cheer

Blizzard just released a new Overwatch comic, and it’s a refreshingly joyous look into the lives of the game’s heroes. Especially Tracer. Like the game’s recent Winter Wonderland update, the comic centers around the holidays. In it, Tracer rushes to find a gift for A Special Somebody, only run out of time (and the magical…

Merry Christmas, Overwatch Cosplay

As The Year Of Overwatch Cosplay winds down, it’s only fitting that Sombra and Tracer round things out with some festive cheer.

The Best Teams For Overwatch’s 3v3 Elimination Mode

Overwatch’s 3 vs. 3 Elimination mode, out since November, turns on its head everything we know about team composition. Heroes beloved in 6 vs. 6 Quick Play and Competitive modes, like Lucio and Torbjorn, are damn near useless in 3 vs. 3, where your priorities are a bit different. That makes composing a viable team…

Watch The MLG Overwatch Invitational Going On Right Now

The Major League Gaming Las Vegas Invitational for Overwatch is about to resume with the semifinals of the winners bracket. Powerhouse Team EnVyUs is facing Cloud9, followed by FaZe Clan vs. Fnatic. The winners of those games will than face each other later today in the grand finals with a $100,000 prize pool at stake.…

Overwatch Doesn’t Like It When You Stack Mei’s Ice Walls

We all knew Mei’s ice walls could be deadly as hell, but what happens when multiple Meis start placing frozen barriers one on top of the other in rapid succession? A short video uploaded to Reddit by user Mitsiee explores the issue in the interest of science and furthering the understanding of human kind. You…

Overwatch Players Band Together To Send Cookies To Blizzard

You might not always agree with the choices the developers of your favorite games make, but they work hard, dammit. As a show of gratitude, a bunch of Overwatch players have pooled their resources to buy cookies for the development team. Christopher Culley started the Blizzard Cookies Project on Indiegogo yesterday with the goal of…

Blizzard Says Their ‘Cool Meter’ Was Off On Mei’s Holiday Overwatch Skin

Overwatch skins might appear to be simple cosmetic alterations, but for some, they’re a matter of life and death. Or at least life and death by embarrassment. Fashion faux pas simply will not stand in this endless war of waifus and husbandos. Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland event and brawl center around Mei, who received a new…

When Your Mech Goes Up In Smoke

Overwatch cosplay byAngelina Vo. Photos by Johnny Ngo

2016’s Most Searched Video Games, According To Google

Google has released its annual collection of top search results for the year, and as always there’s some good video game shit to dig through. Like the fact Pokemon Go was the #1 search topic in the world for the year. And that many of you like to follow up your Overwatch Googling with something…

The Overwatch Fandom Is Horny For Widowmaker’s New Highlight Animation

Overwatch’s holiday event, Winter Wonderland, started yesterday, and with it came new character skins and emotes. Widowmaker’s addition is a highlight intro in which she holds mistletoe over her head, then punches the viewer in the throat and steps on them. The fandom is having a moment with this. Widowmaker is a character based around…

Overwatch‘s Holiday Brawl Is A Bit Of A Letdown

Overwatch’s seasonal brawls, the sporty Lucio Ball and PVE-centric Junkenstein’s Revenge, have been almost universally beloved, taking the game in directions nobody saw coming. Comparatively, the latest one, Mei’s Snowball Offensive, is kind of a buzzkill. A snowball fight was, of course, a natural pick for this season’s brawl, but Mei’s is not all that…