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Overwatch fan-favorite cowboy character Jesse McCree will be renamed, Blizzard has announced, following the departure of the developer’s real Jesse McCree.
The Blizzard veteran of the same name left earlier this month following the lawsuit in California which alleges sexual harassment and a “frat boy” culture at the company, although no specific reason has been given. given for his departure.
The real McCree was one of several men apparently pictured posing together on a bed with a photo of disgraced American comedian Bill Cosby. The ominous image would have shown the interior of the “Cosby Suite” – a hotel room once used at BlizzCon for partying.
A message from the Overwatch team. pic.twitter.com/2W3AV7Pv6X
– Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) August 26, 2021
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McCree was also one of the developers whose name appeared in alleged screenshots showing text conversations between Blizzard staff regarding the “Cosby Sequel”, which included suggestions from former World of Warcraft designer Alex Afrasiabi. on the women brought back into the room.
Afrasiabi was kicked out of Blizzard last year after an internal investigation into his behavior. Earlier this month, Blizzard admitted his departure was due to “misconduct in his treatment of other employees” and said that a World of Warcraft character based on him would be removed from the game, along with the content. that accompanies it.
A post from the Overwatch team was posted on the game’s official Twitter last night, and included confirmation that it was changing its policies so that no other character in the game bears employee names.
Additionally, Blizzard told the Washington Post today (via Kotaku) that references to other former Blizzard employees involved in the alleged “Cosby sequel” photo would also be removed from its games. This includes nods to former Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga and former World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft.
Here is Blizzard’s statement in its entirety:
“We built the Overwatch universe around the idea that inclusiveness, fairness and hope are the building blocks of a better future. They are at the heart of the game and the Overwatch team.
“As we continue to discuss how best to uphold our values and demonstrate our commitment to creating a game world that reflects them, we believe there is a need to change the name of the hero currently known as McCree into something that better represents what Overwatch stands for.
“We realize that any changes to such a beloved and central hero of the game’s fiction will take time to unfold properly, and we will share updates as this work progresses. In the short term, we had planned to launch a supported story arc in September with a new story and game content, of which McCree was a key part. Since we want to incorporate this change into this story arc, we will be delaying the new arc until later. this year and will be releasing a new FFA map instead.In the future, in-game characters will no longer carry the names of real employees and we will be more thoughtful and demanding about adding real-world references in future content. of Overwatch.
“This will help reinforce the fact that we are building a fictional universe that is unmistakably different from the real world and illustrates better that the creation of Overwatch is truly a team effort. The work on these updates is ongoing, and they are just part of our continued commitment to honest thinking and making whatever changes are necessary to build a future worth fighting for. We know actions speak louder than words, and we hope to show you our commitment to making Overwatch a better in-game experience and to continue to make our team the best they can be. “
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