Overwatch team gives update on Jesse McCree name change

The Overwatch community has been anxiously awaiting Jesse McCree’s name change.

After Blizzard was sued for gender discrimination, it came to light that an employee named Jesse McCree hung out at the now-infamous Cosby Suite, a hotel room with a poster of accused rapist Bill Cosby on the wall that was an alleged staging ground for sexual harassment by Blizzard employees. In response, the Overwatch team informed fans that it would be changing McCree’s name and would never name a character after a real person or thing in the future.

The response to the decision was mixed, with many labeling it as an insignificant gesture made to avoid any actual change in the company’s culture. Others felt it was a step in the right direction and a necessary change.

It left Overwatch players wondering, however, when the change would finally happen.

When wil McCree’s name be changed?

At the moment, Blizzard has no estimated release date for when McCree’s name change will arrive in Overwatch.

An Overwatch fan took to Reddit earlier this week to question what was going on with the cowboy’s name change. To everyone’s surprise, a Blizzard staffer shared a very detailed response.

They noted that the hero name change is a “pretty complicated project” since there were voice lines, localization, UI/UX elements, art assets, and publishing aspects that had to be corrected. Because of this, the Overwatch team had no estimated time of arrival for the cowboy’s new name.

“However,” they said, “I can assure you that work is underway on this task.”

The Overwatch team member explained that the name change was made very deliberately, involving conversations and feedback from an abundance of teams and developers working on the game. The employee stated that it’s been a “challenging issue” but game director Aaron Keller and other leads have provided enough “leadership and consideration” to provide the support needed.

It remains unclear what the McCree name change will entail for players. It’s possible that voice lines and references to the character will simply have the names changed, but it’s hypothetically possible that the change could bring a completely different character or could be done with an event.