

For example, World of Warcraft NPC field Marshal Afrasiabi is named after former Blizzard employee Alex Afrasiabi, who has been named several times in harassment claims after being accused of sexually harassing Blizzard female employees and organizing the Cosby Suite. The Overwatch development team says that it will not name in-game characters in the future after real people, but will be more thoughtful and demanding to add real-world references to future Overwatch content. The reason why Overwatch cast members stopped using the name McCree was that the name Diablo 4 level designer Jesse, who had worked with Blizzard for years on the game, and a large part of the player base demanded a change. Now Blizzard has announced that it will rename the character and McCree will no longer be used as a personal name in any of its games. Now, amid an ongoing lawsuit by Activision Blizzard over the discriminatory frat-boy culture at the company, Overwatch’s McCree is getting a name change. The name of developer Jesse McCree was part of Cosby’s suite at BlizzCon, the namesake of one of Overwatch’s most iconic characters, with obvious connections to the Overwatch team, inspiration for cowboy name, and allegations of being removed from the hanged community. Blizzard Entertainment, the developer and publisher of Overwatch, announced that the Overwatch team plans to release a new narrative arc for the game in September – a new story and in-game content – that will feature a character called McCree in the game based on the real-life former game developer company, and that McCree would play a key role in the story, but the story and content have been delayed by over a year. A fan campaign to change the name of an Overwatch character whose name was disputed between Activision Blizzard and an ex-employee was shared on Twitter by the official Overwatch account to change the name.Įarlier this week, Blizzard issued a statement informing Overwatch fans that “McCree,” the name of former Game writer Jesse McCree, would undergo a name change after a sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit. As a result, Blizzard had to delay some content until they could figure out if they could rename the character. We should note that the name change will require a change in development plans and a new bow, prompting Blizzard to say that it will not in the future name characters after real people.įormer Blizzard developer McCree is one of Overwatch’s most popular characters and will be at the center of an upcoming story arc. In light of the recent turmoil at Blizzard over abuse lawsuits and layoffs, the company has renamed Overwatch hero McCree its namesake.

Mccree overwatch free#
We are providing a free BattleTag name change to all players.Blizzard Entertainment has announced that it is renaming McCree, Overwatch’s Outlaw Bounty Hunter, its real-life namesake after former game designer Jesse McCree was fired from his position as publisher Activision Blizzard amid sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuits. Along with this change, Blizzard will also offer a free BattleTag name change to Overwatch players.Īs we introduce a new name, you might have the desire to do the same.
Mccree overwatch update#
Now, the western-themed sharpshooter formerly known as McCree is due to be renamed Cole Cassidy in an update coming on October 26. Despite his hasty exit, no official reason for his departure was revealed. However, Blizzard confirmed that McCree would be renamed back in August, after the real-life Jesse McCree left the company amid the fallout of the recent lawsuit. Jesse McCree, one of Overwatch’s original heroes, was one of several in-game characters across Blizzard’s games which were named after executives and employees of the company. But in every cowboy’s life, there comes a time when he has to stop and make a stand.” “Running from his past meant running from himself, and each passing year only widened the divide between who he had been and what he had become. “The first thing a renegade loses is their name, and this one gave up his long ago,” said Blizzard in a brief statement accompanying the news.
