Pride Month is a month-long celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, and many games find ways to take part. Riot is under fire once more after the Give Back V26 bundle in VALORANT leaked during Pride Month, pushing a straight couple rather than its queer agents at this questionable time.
Where is Nanobomb?
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Esports titles are improving in LGBTQ+ representation, with many new characters identifying as queer, from gay to bi to non-binary. Overwatch and Apex Legends have a very impressive roster when it comes to representation, with Apex especially having great queer storylines and relationships.
I mean, Bloodhound and Fuse, hello!?! And these relationships don’t just exist. There are comics, short films, voice lines, and plenty of hinting and character development leading up to it. The relationships feel earned and complete, not just thrown in there to pander to the gaming community.
VALORANT has trailed behind with this kind of representation. Unlike Overwatch and Apex Legends, VALORANT will often not outright confirm any of its agents’ orientations or identities.
One confirmed couple is Killjoy and Raze. When Killjoy was added to the game, voice lines created a lot of speculation. Riot shared a romantic drawing of the two agents together in December 2022. This has made Killjoy and Raze the most-discussed relationship in VALORANT.
Despite all the love for Killjoy and Raze, affectionately called Nanobomb by fans, Riot hasn’t done much with the couple. You’d think Pride Month would be the perfect time to put in a bit of effort into their lore, but that hasn’t been the case either.
In the Give Back V26 bundle, we got in-game rewards featuring Viper and Chamber. This cis couple rubbed people the wrong way even when the relationship was first revealed, since Viper appeared to hate him in the game. Featuring them during Pride Month was an even bigger source of frustration.
Reactions to the leak include fun replies like: “These ugly cards are perfectly suited for a dogs*** ship that Riot couldn’t have put less effort into actually making sense if they tried. Well done.”
And: “Viper x Chamber might actually be THE worst ship of all time.”
Then: “Explain why you’re releasing cards for a straight ship no one asked for while completely ignoring the one canon lesbian couple you have during Pride Month. F**k you. Genuinely.”
Agreed.
Someone at Riot admitted back in 2022 that some regional markets censor LGBTQ+ content. And this is something Riot cares about. Clearly.
“The straightwashing of queer characters from games in countries with a poor record of LGBT+ rights is sad and proves that there is nothing more important than making the most money,” Twitch streamer Ben Austwick said at the time.
The continued laziness surrounding VALORANT’s one actual confirmed queer couple, while continuing to hype up an extremely toxic and forced straight relationship, is not something to be ignored.
During Pride Month, it almost feels intentional.
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