Overwatch 2 Sexual Harassment Simulator is back after ban
The “Sexual Harassment Simulator” game mode has returned to Overwatch 2 after Blizzard took action against it in October 2022 – and its sitting among the first-person shooter’s most popular custom games.
Versions of the “Sexual Harassment Simulator” have been around since the days of the first Overwatch game, somehow escaping Blizzard’s content moderation. In the user-made game mode players would usually control the cowboy hero Cassidy formerly known as McCree.
McCree, of course, was originally named after a former Blizzard employee, who was accused of sexual harassment. Players would use the character’s stun grenade to chase down female characters and mimic sexual intercourse by teabagging on their bodies. They would then get the “pregnant” status and give birth to another character.
After widespread outrage last year, Blizzard finally took action against the custom game, but it has now returned. “This is version 1.*** of the new and unique Sexual Harassment Simulator. Find new friends, live a normal life and give birth to a child”, reads the description of the mode found in-game.
Interestingly enough, the community seems a bit more divided regarding the game mode this time around. Whereas outrage dominated the debate last year, quite a few users of the Overwatch Subreddit seem to be alright with the mode existing for “satirical” purposes to highlight the issues at Blizzard. Other users can’t understand how game modes like this make their way onto the public servers in the first place, saying there should be no place for games modes like this – satirical in nature or not.
One player wrote: “I coach a youth eSports league and have had to talk to MANY parents about the fact that their 9 y/o’s are playing ‘sexual harassment simulator’ when they are on OW2 playing alone… those are really shitty conversations. I really don’t understand how they allow these game modes to reach the ‘popular’ page, it’s deplorable.”
Seems like Blizzard has some cleaning up to do.
