This week, Eric and Laurence are joined by Brian Moreno (he/him), the president of the Los Angeles Gayming Society, to discuss Blizzard's mega-popular hero shooter OVERWATCH (2)!

Initially released in 2016, Overwatch is a multiplayer competitive shooter featuring a roster over over 40 playable characters with unique abilities and diverse, international backgrounds. The game garnered massive popularity from it's super high-quality animated shorts, went on to become a massive e-sports venture, and garnered headlines for canonically confirming two of its mascot characters (Tracer and Soldier:76) as queer.

Overwatch's servers shut down earlier this month with the release of its sequel Overwatch 2. Now that this sequel/glorified patch is out, we're diving into our histories with this franchise, it's non-diegetic approach to storytelling and character/world building, and its complicated legacy in regards to its queer representation and the company responsible for making the game (as we've discussed many a time on the pod before, Activision Blizzard has been embroiled in a slew of sexual harrassment, discrimination, and retaliation lawsuits over the past couple years.)

Later in the show, we discuss our excitement for Carly Rae Jepsen's latest album, Laurence discusses Coral Island, a new Stardew-esque farming simulator, and Eric shares his yearly Halloween recommendations!

The Los Angeles Gayming Society (LAGS for short) is a 501c3 non-profit with the goal of making the gaming industry more accessible to and tolerant of LGBTQ+ people,  building a local community of like-minded LGBTQ+ people that share thier passions and interests, and giving back to the local community. For more info on their work, check out their website, follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch, and check out their monthly events at Akbar in Silver Lake for their monthly Gaymer Night events!

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CREDITS
Intro and outro music by Connor Marsh (@connorjmarshmallow)

Show art by Benny Kessler (@retro.spectacle.studio)

Special thanks to our patrons: Blueberri Mary, Elijah Punzal,  Trevor McTavish, Travis Ryans & Martha Turner <3

MUSIC THIS WEEK:
"Overwatch Main Theme" by Neal Acree
"Victory Theme" by Neal Acree