Overwatch anniversary event offers two new Ramadan sprays

Ramadan is a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and celebration for Muslims around the world. Overwatch is currently running an anniversary event in which the game’s seasonal events are all active, and Blizzard has released a host of new skins for players to collect.

The two events have merged somewhat, as Blizzard has also released two new sprays alongside cosmetics like Little Red Ashe and Masquerade Reaper. These Ramadan-themed sprays are called “Fast” and “Feast.”

These sprays are already getting recognition and acclaim from Muslim Overwatch fans, who are excited to see a nod towards Ramadan. While games often deck the halls and bring out events to celebrate, say, Christmas or Halloween, they’re often far more silent about this particular celebration.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

A representative from Blizzard shared a statement with Polygon about the process of designing these sprays:

Ramadan is more than a religious holiday, it has broad cultural reach around the world. The most iconic representation of that is the lantern (or fanoos in Arabic), which usually decorate cities around the Middle East around the time of Ramadan. To celebrate Overwatch Anniversary hitting around the season of giving, we decided to create three Ramadan-themed items available to collect, including two sprays (“Fast” and “Feast”) and one player icon inspired by the iconic fanoos.

The beauty of the concept here is that the spray “Fast” representing the fasting (when the sun is up), thus why the lantern is off and smoking. On the other hand, the “Feast” spray represents the breaking of the fast when the sun goes down when people eat with their families, and thus a lit lantern around the meal.

With Ramadan being celebrated around the world, we wanted to make sure that the meals on the “Feast” spray had global representation. This is why you can see Turkish delights, a Haleem stew on the far right end, usually popular in the Indian subcontinent, and of course traditional dried dates served in the Middle East.

We worked closely with our Middle East and North Africa regional team and Arnold Tsang (Overwatch Assistant Art Director) in creating these elements, which were drawn by Qiu Fang, one of our Senior Concept Artist at Blizzard.

These cosmetics are a nice touch that many players may not have noticed — but they are a pleasant addition for Muslim players who might otherwise feel left out from most seasonal game events.

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