The event Overwatch Anniversary Remix started with new rewards including a range of skins. But users on Reddit and the forums Blizzard they immediately noticed that at least a couple of them have been slightly modified: the “Z“that was previously on Zarya’s skins has been removed.
The Z obviously takes the name Zarya, but more recently the letter has become famous as a symbol used by the Russian forces invading Ukraine. The letter does not actually exist in the Cyrillic alphabet, which leads to speculation that it is an Anglicized abbreviation of the Russian word for “West” or a phrase meaning “for victory”. However, it was also adopted by Russian public opinion as a symbol of their support for the war.
Blizzard hasn’t commented on the removal yet, but it seems nearly impossible that the change could have been made for any other reason. Zarya, full name Aleksandra Zaryanova, was a Russian soldier before joining the heroes of Overwatch, and regardless of original intent, the presence of the “Z” on her uniform is now incredibly inappropriate.
In Russia, the letter Z has become a pro-war symbol of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. It was first spotted on tanks and military vehicles, but now it seems to be gaining support from Russian civilians. @PhilBlackCNN has the story. pic.twitter.com/MZNMlCIJdQ
– CNN (@CNN) March 8, 2022
Despite Blizzard’s silence, there seems to be little doubt about the change.
What do you think?
Source: PCGamer.
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