Overwatch's McCree is being officially renamed Cole Cassidy following allegations of abuse cast towards his namesake, former Blizzard designer Jesse McCree.
Following the allegations of toxic workplace culture raised against Activision Blizzard earlier in the year, several key figures left the company. One of these figures was Jesse McCree, the lead designer on Diablo 4 and several other B🎶lizzard titles, who was photographed appearing in the "Cosby Suite" - a hotel room 🅰named after Bill Cosby, who has been accused of sexual assault by numerous women over the past decade.
After Jesse McCree was named in these allegations and left the company, Blizzard stated that it was going to change McCree's name and was going 🌳to stop including references to developers within its work, removing some that were in titles like World of Warcraft.
reintroducing the character. The short video shows Cassidy and explains the name change, saying, "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... To make this new Overwatch better - to make things right - he had to be honest with his team and with himself". The name change will hit Overwatch on October 26. Cassidy's voice actor previously said this was something that "needed to be done".
Last month, Activision faced backlash when after settling a lawsuit filed by the EEOC for $18 million, which comes to about 2 percent of what the company makes in a single quarter. Earlier this 🌼week Activision Blizzard fired more than 20 employees, with 20 more from the co♉mpany facing disciplinary action amidst the l🍸awsuits.
