Overwatch has confirmed they will be changing McCree’s name after the developer the hero was named after found himself in hot water amidst Blizzard’s ongoing controversy.
On August 26, Blizzard announced that McCree’s name will be changed, and going forward, no hero in Overwatch will be named after employees.
The decision, however, couldn’t come at a worse time. As Overwatch players remain hungry for content, a major story arc and in-game content was planned involving the character.
Now, the new story arc has been delayed to later this year and a new FFA map will launch in its place. It’s unclear if the new map is the previously announced Malevento.
A message from the Overwatch team. pic.twitter.com/2W3AV7Pv6X
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) August 26, 2021
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This all said, changing the hero will take a lot of work, and the Overwatch team says they will be updating fans on progress.
There had been numerous ideas by fans about how to tackle the McCree situation, including killing him off, revealing McCree was a fake name, and other concepts. However, it seems like a name change was what Blizzard felt was the right decision.
Of course, with the name change, many other parts of the game will need to be updated, including hero interactions, voice lines, text, and other in-game references. It’s not a simple process.
Hopefully, fans can finally get some new in-game content soon alongside from major Overwatch 2 news in the months ahead.