{"id":25068,"date":"2023-12-26T14:35:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-26T05:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=25068"},"modified":"2023-12-26T14:35:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T05:35:05","slug":"20231226-25068","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231226-25068\/","title":{"rendered":"Overwatch 2: Was Tracer\u2019s butt really nerfed? We investigate\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There have been widespread allegations that Tracer\u2019s butt was secretly reduced in size for Overwatch 2. This has been a source of great debate among the OW2 community, with some doubting that the \u201cbutt nerf\u201d even took place. In this piece of investigative journalism, we compared past data to determine whether any rear resizing actually occurred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Released in 2022, Overwatch 2 is the sequel to the popular online FPS Overwatch. Tracer has been a member of Overwatch\u2019s roster of playable characters since the beginning. She is an extremely agile character who wears a skintight costume. There has been some controversy about her appearance in OW2, with a buttload of comments on X (formally Twitter) stating that her behind has been secretly altered.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Overwatch<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Things kicked off on X with one user commenting on Tracer\u2019s new \u201cFormal Wear\u201d skin, saying that the developers have \u201ccompletely removed her ass.\u201d Reposting the comment, another user expressed their agreement<\/a> with the assessment, adding that: \u201cNone of her skins have (butt)cheeks now.\u201d In other words, they are claiming that the developers \u201cbutt nerfed\u201d Tracer\u2019s 3D model at some point.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both posts have garnered around 2000 shares and 1000 comments. While some users were equally butthurt about the alleged minimizing of Tracer\u2019s behind, others started to conduct CSI-style investigations of their own, concluding that it \u201chas always been like that.\u201d To get to the bottom of the matter, we decided to investigate by comparing actual in-game models and past game footage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Two overlaid images of Tracer\u2019s T.racer skin- one from the immediate post-launch period (October 2022) and one from recently (December 25 2023). Credit: Past image taken from RandomGameClips Youtube video<\/a> dated October 15 2022. Recent image captured by Automaton staff at the time of writing.\u00a0<\/font><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, it seems that no \u201cbutt nerfing\u201d took place between the immediate post-launch of OW2 and the writing of this report. The image above is made up of two separate images of Tracer\u2019s \u201cT.Racer\u201d skin; one from around October 15 2022 and the other from December 25 2023. As you can see, they overlap perfectly; the butt rendering for the T-racer skin has not been changed at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also observed that the modeling of the buttocks for the \u201cT.Racer,\u201d \u201cOverwatch 1,\u201d \u201cFormal Wear\u201d and several other skins in OW2 was identical. The only changes were in clothing aspects like belts and fabric.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Two overlaid images of Tracer\u2019s default skin from Overwatch 1 and the \u201cOverwatch 1\u201d skin from Overwatch 2. Credit: OW default skin image taken from Klone Studios\u2019 Youtube video<\/a> dated May 9 2016. OW2 image captured by Automaton staff at the time of writing. <\/font><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It also seems unlikely that there was a \u201cbutt nerf\u201d between OW1 and OW2. As the image above shows, Tracer\u2019s butt in the OW1 default skin and the same skin from OW2 is almost identical. However, Tracer\u2019s behind has a slight lift in the OW2 default skin compared to all other skins- so she has received a bit of a butt buff here. In conclusion, we can say that Tracer\u2019s bottom has stayed mostly the same between OW1 and OW2, and does not seem to have been reduced at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now for the \u201cFormal Wear\u201d skin that started all the kafuffle. The shape of Tracer\u2019s behind in this skin is no different to the other skins. However, it could be that the design of her pants in this skin has made people assume that there was a change. The black pants are less form-fitting than Tracer\u2019s other clothes, so her butt is less visible. Due to this, some people may feel that her butt has been made smaller because they are used to seeing Tracer in her figure-hugging skins.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Comparison between T.Racer and Formal Wear skins.<\/font><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Tracer\u2019s default skin in OW2. <\/font><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But why did the \u201cbutt nerf\u201d misconception receive so much attention? This could be due to the incident with OW1, where Tracer\u2019s over-the-shoulder victory pose was criticized for over-sexualizing Tracer\u2019s behind. The pose was subsequently removed by Blizzard (Source: Polygon<\/a>). Due to this history, it’s possible that an association between Tracer and butt censorship has taken root in players\u2019 minds. Therefore, players were perhaps quick to assume that such changes had been made to Tracer again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cButt nerfs\u201d have been implemented in other titles before. These include Solid Snake\u2019s famous buttocks being flattened for his appearance in Fortnite,<\/a> as well as temporary butt nerfs made in FFXIV\u2019s<\/a> Nier Automata crossover due to technical issues. Adjustment of characters\u2019 bottoms in video games is a subject that tends to attract a lot of attention. However, in Tracer\u2019s case, it seems unlikely that any butt nerfing has taken place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the\u00a0original Japanese article<\/a>\u00a0(original article\u2019s publication date: 2023-12-25 19:25\u00a0JST)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We investigate the widespread claims on social media that the butt size of popular Overwatch character Tracer was reduced in Overwatch 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":25075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-25068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nOverwatch 2: Was Tracer\u2019s butt really nerfed? 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