Overwatch 2 Pride 2025: New skins, map, history & rewards

Overwatch 2 has always been about more than just pushing the payload. At the heart of it, it’s a game built on the values of hope, inclusivity, and unity, where players from all walks of life and backgrounds can come together and feel seen, heard, and represented by their favourite Overwatch 2 heroes. 

This inclusive spirit carries into every June with the annual Overwatch Pride event: a month-long celebration of LGBTQ+ players and characters, where the community can celebrate who they are, both in and out of game. This year, there are two free rewards to claim for Soldier: 76. Here’s everything you need to know about Overwatch 2 Pride in 2025. 

Overwatch 2’s Pride event is a month-long celebration that highlights LGBTQ+ voices and stories within the game. Held every June, it showcases Blizzard’s ongoing push for inclusivity in the game, highlighting the diverse identities of the player base and the game’s characters through themed content, Pride cosmetics, and lore drops. 

Several Overwatch 2 heroes have LGBTQ+ backgrounds to offer a realistic representation – Tracer is openly lesbian, Lifeweaver is pansexual, Venture is non-binary with they/them pronouns, and Pharah was recently confirmed as a lesbian in the game’s lore. 

During the event, certain Overwatch 2 maps are decorated with Pride flags, and players can equip cosmetics that represent a wide range of identities, with player icons representing each sexuality’s flag available. 

The event is both a celebration and a statement of inclusivity, reinforcing Overwatch 2’s core message of unity and hope for all.

To celebrate Pride in-game, the popular Overwatch 2 map, Midtown, will be decked out once again in Pride festivities. The Hybrid map will feature hanging Pride flags, raining colourful confetti, a rainbow Pride crosswalk, and other small details like the bus saying “Happy Pride!”. These changes are already available in-game across all Overwatch 2 modes: Quick Play, Competitive, and Arcade. 
While these visual changes don’t impact Overwatch 2 gameplay, they reflect Blizzard and the community’s shared commitment to celebrating Pride Month. 

As always, the Overwatch Pride event in 2025 is completely free, including the available rewards. 

To claim your Overwatch 2 Pride cosmetics, all you need to do is log in to the game during Pride Month (May 30 to June 30). From there, the ‘Resilient’ (Rare) Soldier:76 skin and ‘Rainbow Smoke Bomb’ emote will be permanently unlocked in your inventory and available for use. 
You’ll see the stoic ex-captain dressed in colours matching the gay pride flag, which links to his canonical sexuality. This year’s Pride event also treats players to a short story, ‘Futures Past,’ going into Soldier:76’s (aka Jack Morrison) life from when he met his then-partner, Vincent, and how they set up their first date. The comic ends with Soldier: 76 writing a letter to Vincent, revealing he’s still alive and he’s grateful for their time together. The story was published online and is the latest addition to a series of comics and other written media on Blizzard’s website.

One of the biggest additions to Overwatch 2 for Pride (and always) is the range of Pride-themed Player Icons that present different LGBTQ+ flags – from pansexual and lesbian to non-binary and more. It’s a small but great way for players to see themselves reflected in-game, whether they’re out and proud or just figuring things out.

These Overwatch Pride events showcase Blizzard’s commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community, as they also run several charity campaigns in support of inclusivity alongside the in-game changes. 

For the first-ever Pride event in 2023, Blizzard released Pride-themed merch, where all sales during Pride Month were donated to the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE). They also shone the spotlight on some of their popular content creators from the Overwatch LGBTQ+ community, where these streamers and influencers shared the positive impact Overwatch had on them through daily videos, streams, and blog posts. 

In further support of inclusivity, Blizzard also launched the ‘Calling All Heroes’ competitive esports series that helps aspiring competitors from marginalised backgrounds and genders find their feet in the scene. The highlight of this event was the ‘Monarch’ Venture skin, which boldly features the colours of the non-binary flag. Even the skin’s name, ‘Monarch’ (a genderless term for a person of royalty), perfectly fits with Blizzard’s favourite archaeologist.

Pride then became an annual event, with Blizzard showcasing their support through charitable campaigns. Blizzard released a second Pride Collection in 2024, with all sales benefitting The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention organisation for LGBTQ+ young people. And for 2025, Blizzard has their newest Pride Collection is in support of GLAAD, the world’s largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer media advocacy organisation.  

Overwatch Pride has grown into something bigger than just a seasonal event – it feels part of the in-game universe. It’s a symbol of the game’s ongoing support for the LGBTQ+ community and its players, through its character representation, personal cosmetics, and real-world charity campaigns. 

This iconic annual event serves as a celebration of individuality and the beautiful spectrum of identities that make the Overwatch universe (and its community) feel so alive. And each year, Blizzard takes more steps forward to establish the game as one of the most welcoming and inclusive titles in gaming.