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Blizzard has officially announced the new name for the Overwatch hero formerly known as McCree. After announcing plans to rename the character because he was named after an ousted Blizzard developer, the company revealed on Friday that McCree’s new name will be Cole Cassidy.
The change from McCree to Cassidy will be made in Overwatch beginning on Tuesday, October 26.
Related to this, Blizzard said it planned to begin a new narrative arc for Overwatch in September, with McCree expected to play a key role. Due to the name change, however, Blizzard is delaying the new arc until later this year.
Looking ahead, Blizzard said it will no longer name Overwatch characters after real employees. The company also vowed to “be more thoughtful and discerning about adding real-world references in future Overwatch content.”
“We know that actions speak louder than words, and we hope to show you our commitment to making Overwatch a better experience in-game and continue to make our team the best it can be,” Blizzard said.
Jesse McCree was among the Blizzard developers pictured in the infamous “Cosby Suite” photo. The developer was ousted from the company amid the Activision Blizzard sexual harassment and discrimination case.
Activision Blizzard is being sued by the state of California for a pattern of sexual harassment and discrimination against women. A new wrinkle in the case came to light recently, with Activision Blizzard lobbying the court to pause the case due to claims of ethics violations.
While all of this is happening, Blizzard continues to work on updates to Overwatch and the sequel, Overwatch 2, which is scheduled to release in 2022 at the soonest.
