Blizzard has decided to rename its iconic Overwatch cowboy gunslinger hero — McCree, to Cole Cassidy starting next week after the former lead level designer Jesse McCree was let go following an internal investigation over the lawsuit filed by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
The gunslinger was originally named after Jesse McCree as Blizzard used to name some in-game characters after real-life employees in the company. Following the current lawsuit and any future lawsuit, Blizzard has made a decision to completely remove names of real-life employees from its game characters and update those with fictional names.
Blizzard says this change “will help reinforce that we’re building a fictional universe that is unmistakably different from the real world and better illustrates that the creation of Overwatch is truly a team effort.”
Blizzard officially unveiled the new name — Cole Cassidy, on Twitter. Blizzard also uploaded an introductory trailer video with a snippet from his new story.
“The first thing a renegade loses is their name, and this one gave up his long ago. 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.”
“But in every cowboy’s life, there comes a time when he has to stop and make a stand. To make this new Overwatch better – to make things right – he had to be honest with his team and himself. The cowboy he was rode into the sunset, and Cole Cassidy faced the world at dawn.”
Activision Blizzard has been in serious legal problems for the past 3 months and has been under the federal agency lens for its culture of “constant sexual harassment” and “turning a blind eye to complaints”. Many high-level executives such as Blizzard president J. Allen Brack, Head of HR Jesse Meschuk, and three more high profile Blizzard employees have exited or been let go since the start of lawsuits.
