Blizzard will rename Overwatch hero Jesse McCree after a former developer — who the character was named after — left the company. This announcement came several weeks after a lawsuit was filed against Activision Blizzard by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing over discrimination and sexual harassment of its employees.
Former Blizzard developer McCree was one of a handful of employees photographed inside Blizzard’s “Cosby Suite” in 2013.
“As we continue to discuss how we best live up to our values and to demonstrate our commitment to creating a game world that reflects them,” said the development team in a tweet. “We believe it’s necessary to change the name of the hero currently knowns as McCree to something that better represents what Overwatch stands for.”
Read the entire message for yourself below.
A message from the Overwatch team. pic.twitter.com/2W3AV7Pv6X
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) August 26, 2021
Obviously, McCree is one of Overwatch’s most popular characters, and he was even going to be central to the upcoming story arc. As such, Blizzard is also delaying that content until they figure out what they will rename McCree.
The reaction from fans was slightly mixed over the name change. Some are upset, others are happy, and a whole more are just confused.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.