Blizzard to support underrepresented genders in Overwatch 2 community

Under Blizzard Entertainment’s inclusion program dubbed Calling All Heroes, Overwatch League will hold two events for underrepresented genders.

With a new initiative for underrepresented genders, Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of the popular game Overwatch, has taken concrete steps to try to create a more diverse player base in the competitive Overwatch 2 scene. In order to boost the star power of players and talent from the LGBTQ+ community, the Overwatch League will hold the Challengers Cup and Caster Camp.

Overwatch Challengers Cup

Along with the Path to Pro competition, Blizzard anticipates that the Challengers Cup, which will take place in the autumn and winter of 2022, will act as a launching pad for underrepresented genders into the larger Overwatch esports community.

The registered players will compete in two separate qualifiers, which will take place in October and November. In a Swiss system, the first qualifier will take place from October 21 to October 23, followed by the second qualifier from November 18 to November 20 in a similar format. The top four teams from each qualifier will advance to a double-elimination final, which will be held in December. 

Caster Camp

The goal of the Caster Camp is to give underrepresented groups the chance to learn from some of the top broadcast professionals in the field. In addition to Soe Gschwind and Matt “Mr. X” Morello, other well-known Overwatch casters will be participating at the Caster Camp. Registration for the camp will begin on September 30 and last until October 28.

All the selected participants will have the opportunity to put what they learned during the camp into practice and submit a video reel of themselves practicing casting on the Overwatch map, which will be evaluated by a panel of instructors.

Blizzard to introduce a new gender verification system for Calling All Heroes

Challengers Cup and Caster Camp registration will be backed by an extensive gender verification procedure that all participants must complete in order to ensure a secure competition environment. According to Blizzard, the verification method attempts to stop anyone from acting in bad faith by making sure that all participants are from underrepresented genders, including genderfluid, non-binary, transgender, and women-identifying individuals.

Aspiring participant must confirm their social networking and Battle.net identities, and players must go through an extensive gender verification system. Although the goal of including underrepresented groups in the Overwatch community is commendable, the implementation of a thorough gender verification mechanism runs the risk of burdening players who may already feel excluded from the competitive gaming scene with unnecessary proof.

Header: Overwatch League/Blizzard Entertainment