Blizzard made the changes quietly.
A Russian pro-war symbol has been removed from two of Overwatch‘s Zarya skins, though Activision Blizzard hasn’t made comment on the matter as of the time of writing.
Players noticed that Overwatch‘s Anniversary Remix event pushed out an update that removed the letter Z from two of Zarya’s skins: Arctic and Siberian Front. You can see the Arctic skin before (above left) and after (above right) via Polygon.
The letter Z, recently referred to as the “zwastika” has been attached to the Russian pro-war movement since the country’s invasion of Ukraine. You can read more about the symbol via The New Yorker.
The Zarya skin changes weren’t detailed in 5 April patch notes; we’ve asked Activision Blizzard for comment.
Overwatch is currently available on Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5 and Switch.
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