Former Overwatch Lead Director Jeff Kaplan has been opening up more about his time at Blizzard and work with the hero shooter, likely due to the game’s sudden resurgence. This has included streaming on Twitch and answering gamers’ burning questions.
Recently, someone asked: “Why did you nerf Tracer’s butt?”
In response, Kaplan said: “We actually didn’t nerf Tracer’s butt. It stayed exactly the same.”
Why is everyone always talking about Tracer’s butt size?
While many appreciated Jeff Kaplan for refusing to shy away from the important questions, many gamers felt he was lying.
Back when the first Overwatch game came out in 2016, Tracer was sorta like the mascot. Fans got to know her as a cheeky, playful British lesbian who was sorta annoying to deal with in the beta. The art that accompanied her felt more coy and sexy, sparking major backlash. This was the wrong kind of cheeky, Blizzard!
As fans continued to criticize her pose, Kaplan said the team would swap it out. They weren’t feeling strongly about it anyway, he added.
The new pose was a lot more silly and fun while still showing off her butt, just not as prominently. A win-win, right?
However, the Overwatch community has continued to discuss this original controversy 10 years later. It felt like developers were afraid to appease their male audience and took away yet another butt to stare at. A lot of gamers swore that developers made Tracer’s butt smaller when Overwatch 2 came out.
It didn’t help matters when newer heroes were given equally deflated assets. Many pointed out how flat Kirko’s frame looked in a few of her recent skins.
While the complaints were exaggerated, many gamers truly felt slighted and pointed out that Marvel Rivals isn’t afraid to put booties in players’ faces. It’s been a very drawn-out controversy in the gaming space, with men often shooting down any character that isn’t overly feminine and sexualized.
In general, Tracer’s butt has stayed relatively the same for the past decade. Her butt is never going to be massive. Look at her. She’s super tiny. And that’s perfectly fine. Plus, she’s for the girls. Just leave her alone.
In all seriousness, I think it’s largely the Overwatch community just having a bit of fun with it. I think it’s just a stupid rumor that gamers kept alive and like to make memes about. But her butt never changed, alright? Kaplan himself has said so.
Now, back to important matters. Is Anran’s new face really all that different?