Playing by Feel

This article examines how emotion, gendered norms, and game design shape role choice in Overwatch. Drawing on feminist game studies and transdisciplinary communication, it shows how play reproduces and challenges cultural expectations, positioning digital games as experimental spaces for studying power, visibility, and equity.
An allegorical illustration of a woman depicted as a cyborg Tank character, blending human features with armored, technological elements. She stands at the center of a digital battlefield, illuminated and highly visible, while data streams and social symbols surround her, representing scrutiny, emotion, and performance.

Playing by Feel: Gender, Emotion, and Social Norms in Overwatch Role Choice

By: Cristo León, Angela Arroyo & James Lipuma

Blog post about the article by León, Arroyo, and Lipuma (2025) published in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, last updated on December 19, 2025.

Introduction

This article examines how emotion, gameplay context, and social norms shape role choice in digital systems, using Overwatch as a case study. The authors argue that role selection is not driven solely by mechanics or strategy, but by culturally embedded expectations related to gender, visibility, and performance.

Emotion, Gender, and Role Choice

Drawing on feminist game studies and transdisciplinary communication, the study explores how women players describe heightened emotional and physiological engagement during play. Victory often represents not only in-game success, but resistance to cultural scripts that position certain roles as masculine or feminine. These affective experiences influence whether players choose Tank, DPS, or Support roles, as well as hero selection under conditions of risk and scrutiny.

Game Design and Cultural Scripts

Comparative analysis with Apex Legends demonstrates how different franchises encode gender norms through design. In Overwatch, Tanks have historically been coded as masculine, while Healers are associated with femininity. These design choices reinforce stereotypes even as players actively subvert them through play.

The Woman-Tank as Cyborg Identity

Building on Donna Haraway’s concept of the cyborg, the article conceptualizes the woman-Tank as a hybrid identity that is simultaneously empowered and constrained. High visibility increases risk: failure invites criticism, while success is often normalized or rendered invisible. This dynamic reveals how performance, emotion, and recognition are unevenly distributed across gendered roles.

Games as Laboratories for Equity

By situating Overwatch within broader institutional systems of inequity, the study positions games as laboratories for examining how emotion, design, and social norms reproduce or challenge bias. The findings contribute to conversations on equity, representation, and systemic transformation across both digital and organizational contexts.

Cite this Paper

León, C., Arroyo, A., & Lipuma, J. (2025). Playing by Feel: Gender, Emotion, and Social Norms in Overwatch Role Choice. Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 23(7), 152–163. https://doi.org/10.54808/JSCI.23.07.152

DOI: 10.54808/JSCI.23.07.152

ISSN: 1690-4524

Volume: 23 | Issue: 7 | Pages: 152–163

Publisher: International Institute of Informatics and Cybernetics

License: Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International

Keywords: gender; emotion; feminist game studies; role choice; cyborg identity; playstyles; transdisciplinary communication

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Copyright

Copyright 2025. © 2025 León, Arroyo & Lipuma. Published by the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Jugar Desde la Emoción: Género, Afecto y Normas Sociales en la Elección de Roles en Overwatch

Entrada de blog sobre el artículo de León, Arroyo y Lipuma (2025) publicado en el Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics.

Introducción

Este artículo analiza cómo la emoción, el contexto de juego y las normas sociales influyen en la elección de roles en sistemas digitales, utilizando Overwatch como estudio de caso. Se argumenta que la selección de roles está mediada por expectativas culturales vinculadas al género, la visibilidad y el desempeño.

Aporte Central

A partir de los estudios feministas del juego y la comunicación transdisciplinaria, el texto examina cómo las experiencias afectivas influyen en las decisiones situacionales de las jugadoras. El concepto de la mujer-Tank como identidad cíborg permite comprender cómo el empoderamiento y la vulnerabilidad coexisten en entornos altamente visibles y normados.

Cita el artículo

León, C., Arroyo, A., & Lipuma, J. (2025). Playing by Feel: Gender, Emotion, and Social Norms in Overwatch Role Choice. Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 23(7), 152–163. https://doi.org/10.54808/JSCI.23.07.152