Overwatch McCree name change request gets huge boost as Blizzard sacks dev

Overwatch players petitioning for the hero McCree to have his name changed – after the dev he was named after was mentioned in a Blizzard lawsuit – got a major boost after he was fired from the company.

Lead level designer Jesse McCree was let go from Blizzard on August 11, according to a report from Kotaku.

Earlier in August, the same website published screenshots from a 2013 group chat where the designer and David Kosak joked about how Alex Afrasiabi would want to marry or have relations with the “hot chixx” being brought to a party.

The “hot chixx” were reportedly the devs’ own wives, but that didn’t stop drama from unfolding as the story was published amidst a massive lawsuit against Blizzard.

Overwatch McCree name change?

Following the story’s publication, many fans of Overwatch called for the hero McCree to be renamed, killed off or have it revealed that McCree isn’t his real name.

So far, Blizzard or the Overwatch developers themselves, haven’t commented on the possibility of a name change, though it isn’t as simple as just changing some text.

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Numerous voice lines, interactions, and other content would need to be redone from scratch if Blizzard decided to change the hero’s name. Further complicating matters is the ongoing development of Overwatch 2, and possible delays.

Fans aren’t the only ones who appear to want the name changed either. Overwatch League casters Bren and Sideshow went out of their way to avoid using McCree’s name on-air, instead opting to refer to him as the cowboy or referencing his weapon, the PeaceKeeper.

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Alongside McCree’s departure, Blizzard also reportedly fired Diablo 4’s game director Luis Barriga and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft.