It’s weird, Overwatch has to have the most diverse cast in terms of race, gender and sexuality. Does anyone have idea how rare it is for a video game to have only 15% of the playable characters be straight white males? With the obvious exception being the many Japanese games set in Japan though that’s rarely an example of a diverse cast.
To have any gay character at all in a first person shooter and also avoiding the typical LGBT stereotypes in something else.
Overwatch is so close to inclusion of almost everyone.
Though why is there not just as much concern over the lack of inclusion of a male hero who is from the Middle East or India? There is a far greater lack of positive role models of Middle Eastern or Indian men in western media (while avoiding stereotypes) in general let alone video games.
I would be most happy to see inclusion of an Arab or Indian man who remotely reflects the Middle Eastern and Indian men I have known in reality but have almost never seen on film or television and I cannot think of a single example from a video game.
It’s interesting that when Call of Duty (very belatedly) tried a positive depiction of a Middle Eastern character they chose to depict a Middle Eastern Woman as the principle protagonist.
It happened again in Battlefield 1, a chance to depict a Middle Easter man in a positive and active role and for whatever reason they chose a Middle Eastern Woman to take on that vital role.
This - to me - is a pressing concern not because it doesn’t have GREATER prominence but because it’s basically totally neglected when it should be on parity of concern.