Earlier this week, Blizzard made a statement promising fans that Overwatch’s McCree, named after former game designer Jesse McCree, will be getting a name change in the wake of a sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit.
The news of McCree‘s name change comes via a tweet posted to Overwatch’s official Twitter page.
A message from the Overwatch team. pic.twitter.com/2W3AV7Pv6X
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) August 26, 2021
The tweet concerning Overwatch’s McCree continued:
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.
Ex-Blizzard employee Jesse McCree, amongst others, was reported to have been involved with the incident at the BlizzCon “Cosby Suite” with former World of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi. Nods to McCree and Afrasiabi also appear in World of Warcraft and will also be removed as well.
What are you hoping to see in McCree’s new story arc? What are your thoughts on Blizzard’s statement? Let us know in the comments below, and keep coming back to The Nerd Stash for all of your nerdy news and needs.
