Overwatch players demand McCree name change after damning Blizzard report
Blizzard EntertainmentOverwatch players are calling for Jesse McCree to be renamed after a developer the hero is named after was featured in a Blizzard report outlining allegations against the company.
On July 27, as Blizzard employees staged a walkout protest, Kotaku reported on the infamous “Cosby Suite” at BlizzCon 2013 – a nickname given to Alex Afrasiabi’s booze-filled hotel room.
The report featured a photo of a group chat screenshot that had been uploaded to Afrasiabi’s Facebook. In it, former designer David Kosak wrote “I am gathering the hot chixx for the Coz.”
“You can’t marry ALL of them Alex,” he added, which prompted Afrasiabi to disagree. “I can, I’m Middle Eastern.”
A chat log in the article makes it really gross that Overwatch character Jesse McCree was named after a real life, longtime developer at Blizzard. pic.twitter.com/KWzkxNrpL9
— Overbuff (@Overbuff) July 28, 2021
Following this, WoW Level Designer Jesse McCree chimed in with “You misspelled f**k.”
Jesse McCree, of course, is also a character from Overwatch who seems to have been named after the dev. In a 2019 BlizzCon panel, McCree the developer claimed his parents were “big Overwatch fans.”
Blizzard EntertainmentPlayers want Jesse McCree renamed in Overwatch
Following this news, players have begun calling for Blizzard to rename the cowboy hero.
Petition for @PlayOverwatch to rename Jesse McCree to Matt Mercer in light of the real life Jesse McCree being a greasy “Cosby Suite” dwelling scumbag. #ActiBlizzWalkout #blizzardlawsuit #Blizzard
— Woover (@_Woover_) July 28, 2021
“Petition for Overwatch to rename Jesse McCree to Matt Mercer in light of the real life Jesse McCree being a greasy ‘Cosby Suite’ dwelling scumbag,” one player wrote on Twitter.
Others went as far as calling for the devs to kill off the character. “Kill off Jesse mcCree or give us his real name for Overwatch 2, I’m never speaking that PoS name again.”
With so many players calling for change, it will be interesting to see what actions are taken. Previously, the WoW dev team stated they would be removing references “not appropriate” for their world following the allegations.
@PlayOverwatch kill off Jesse mcCree or give us his real name for Overwatch 2, I’m never speaking that PoS name again. Disgusted.
— eatsmoke (@eatsmokes) July 28, 2021
Of course, removing McCree’s name would also mean redoing multiple in-game interactions and voice lines, so it’s not as simple as it may sound.
Whether or not the hero ends up being locked until changes are made or even killed off in Overwatch 2 remains unknown, but the idea of Jesse McCree not really being the hero’s real name seems like a plausible route.
The Overwatch devs have not yet commented on the situation.