NYXL potential marginalized gender roster leaves Overwatch 2 community concerned

New York Excelsior, a popular team that will be competing in the Overwatch 2 League in 2023, is allegedly looking to include individuals of marginalized genders into their primary roster. The reports emerged online on November 28 and sparked immediate backlash from the community.

While some acknowledged that the move may be well-intentioned, many professional players and fans took to social media to discuss the problematic consequences of such an initiative. Chassidy "Aramori", an Overwatch professional-turned-coach, referred to this potential roster formation as a "terrible idea."

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Overwatch 2 community expresses their doubts about alleged marginalized gender OWL roster

Although there hasn't been any official announcement from New York Excelsior yet, the Overwatch community expressed their views about the team possibly including marginalized genders in their roster based on the online reports. Chassidy "Aramori" listed out her concerns about the initiative on Twitter, speaking up on behalf of players who contacted her about the same.

Overwatch pro Becca "Aspen" stated that she would like to join the professional OWL roster based on her skill and not because of her gender. She encouraged NYXL to focus on Calling All Heroes (CAH), an inclusivity program organized by the Overwatch League that caters to underrepresented genders.

Reporter Arran Spake brought up the point that individuals belonging to marginalized genders do not want handouts.

C9 Izzy on Twitter, the General Manager for Spitfire, agreed that the idea is "really bad."

Fans of the game have voiced similar concerns. From calling it a PR stunt to discussing how it could be potentially harmful for individuals of marginalized genders, they are not happy with the initiative.

Many of the individuals who stand to be included in such a team will not have performed extensively on a competitive level, especially in comparison to the other teams. The corporate "diversity win" will come at the cost of the tournament itself, which may lead to further backlash.

A few members of the community defended the decision. Karol A. opined that since individuals of marginalized genders are good enough to participate in the Calling All Heroes Challengers Cup tournament, they should be allowed to participate in the Overwatch 2 League as well.

One user said that they would like to see this initiative take place because there are many female and LGBTQ players who do not get recognition.

However, @JonaSavage17 said that teams need to stop creating all-female rosters forcefully as It does more harm than good and referenced a League of Legends all-female team to illustrate his point.

While the initiative was good, the team performed disastrously and dropped out quite early on in the tournament.

Some pointed out how forced moves that backfire can later be the reason behind women and individuals of other marginalized genders not finding a spot in esports tournaments.

There is another major concern - payments. Given that this potential Overwatch 2 roster will include individuals of marginalized genders, many have asked if they would receive remuneration similar to that of their male counterparts.

While it does look like they'll be getting the minimum league pay to be a part of the roster, there is no denying that all players participating in the upcoming Overwatch 2 tournament season should receive equal pay, irrespective of their gender.

Many in the community agree that NYXL would benefit from creating a separate team dedicated to the Contenders circuit or the Calling All Heroes tournaments instead. A lot of professional teams have a similar setup in the Valorant Game Changers circuit, so there's no reason why something similar cannot be done for Overwatch 2.