Blizzard will rename Overwatch’s Jesse McCree

Blizzard Entertainment says it will rename McCree, Overwatch’s outlaw bounty hunter, after his real-life namesake, former game designer Jesse McCree, was let go from the studio in the wake of a sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit against publisher Activision Blizzard.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Blizzard’s Overwatch team confirmed the name change, saying, “We believe it’s necessary to change the name of the hero currently known as McCree to something that better represents what Overwatch stands for.”

The real-life Jesse McCree was a longtime Blizzard Entertainment employee who worked on the developer’s World of Warcraft expansions, Diablo 3, and the upcoming Diablo 4. He left the company in August, two weeks after a report was published that featured McCree taking part in a Blizzard gathering at the BlizzCon “Cosby Suite,” with former World of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi. In a lawsuit filed by California regulators in July, Afrasiabi was alleged to have “engage[d] in blatant sexual harassment with little to no repercussions” while at Blizzard.

Blizzard confirmed McCree’s departure on Aug. 11, alongside the departure of two other developers.

In July, Activision Blizzard was sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) for creating a “frat boy culture” that allowed gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment to proliferate. Several top executives, including former Blizzard president J. Allen Brack, have been described by the lawsuit as knowing about and enabling the alleged behavior. The DFEH said it conducted a two-year investigation into Activision Blizzard before filing the suit.

Immediately following the lawsuit, Activision Blizzard made an official statement in which it said the lawsuit included “distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past.” Activision Blizzard executive (and former George W. Bush homeland security advisor) Frances Townsend called the lawsuit “truly meritless and irresponsible” in a statement that’s since been criticized by current and former staff. Thousands of Activision Blizzard employees signed a letter asking for Townsend to step down as the executive sponsor of the women’s network. Following the letter, Activision Blizzard employees in California and elsewhere walked out of work in protest of leadership response.

Developing…