Overwatch's McCree has been renamed Cole Cassidy

Published October 22, 2021 1:15 PM, by TJ Denzer

Activision Blizzard is still trying to do damage control on much of the ongoing issues facing the company right now, which includes firing a lot of people, continuing an internal investigation, and preparing for a lawsuit with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). One of the more oddball ends of that includes renaming a major character in one of its games. Overwatch’s McCree was originally named for a Blizzard employee who has since been fired in the ongoing scandals. Now, McCree will have a new name, Cole Cassidy, and it will be implemented in-game next week.

Blizzard announced McCree’s official name change in a post on the Overwatch official Twitter on October 22, 2021. Starting on October 26, 2021, McCree will formally be known as Cole Cassidy out of game and in-game from now on. Likely, the October 26 date is when an official patch will roll out, making the in-game name change official. It is unknown if any further action will be taken to scrub the McCree name from the character beyond this change.

This action is a follow-up on a promise previously made by Overwatch and Blizzard to change McCree’s name. The name change was brought up after allegations arose against Blizzard lead Jesse McCree, which resulted his firing alongside further Blizzard senior devs.

With McCree’s name officially changing to Cole Cassidy next week, it’s just one more thing off the list of arguably far more pressing matters for Activision Blizzard. The company recently fired 20 further employees as part of a clean-up effort even as CEO Bobby Kotick has continued to claim there is no room for sexual harassment and toxicity in the company.

There was a recent issue with the DFEH’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard which may create a conflict of interest, but the fact remains that Activision Blizzard’s issues are far from done. That said, at least an Overwatch character isn’t named after one of the employees that helped cultivate Activision Blizzard's toxic culture anymore..