Overwatch Is Officially Changing McCree’s Name
It’s the end of an era for Overwatch, as Blizzard Entertainment confirms the fan-favourite McCree will officially have his name changed.
In the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct within Activision Blizzard, the fact the sharp-shooting character was named after Lead Designer Jesse McCree led to calls for him to be replaced.
While McCree won’t be completely removed from the hero shooter, a tweet from the official Overwatch account confirms he won’t keep his original name. Moving forward, Overwatch has vowed not to name characters after real-life employees or people, which will hopefully avoid this kind of issue further down the line.
Blizzard reiterated that plans for a new narrative arc have been delayed until later in the year, with a new FFA map coming in September. The developer is presumably taking this time to focus on damage control. McCree was supposed to be part of the storyline, but it's unclear whether he still will be.
Who is Jesse McCree in real life?
Jesse McCree had been a long-standing employee of Activision Blizzard - with his work involving Diablo 3 and the upcoming Diablo 4. The senior member of staff left his position in August, just two weeks after his name was mentioned in the so-called "Cosby Suite" allegations.
The Activision Blizzard lawsuit continues to gather momentum, with the latest update claiming members of the HR staff have shredded documents crucial to the case. There's no news on what McCree's new name will be, however, Overwatch remains committed to trying to keep McCree the character while distancing itself from the real-life Jesse McCree.
Overwatch's statement reads as follows:
"We realize that any change to such a well-loved and central hero in the game’s fiction will take time to roll out correctly, and we’ll share updates as this work progresses. In the near term, we had planned to kick off a narrative arc in September supported with new story and game content, of which McCree was a key part.
"Since we want to integrate this change into that story arc, we will be delaying the new arc until later this year and instead launch a new FFA map this September. Going forward, in-game characters will no longer be name after real employees and we will be more thoughtful and discerning about adding real world references in future Overwatch content."
More to follow...