Overwatch: McCree has a new name – even with a story justification

A new name for McCree in Overwatch has been decided. We reveal what the cowboy is called and what you were thinking.

Even if the players are longingly waiting for more signs of life from Overwatch 2, there is another “problem” in the Overwatch universe that has been bothering fans for several weeks. The popular cowboy McCree was to be renamed, but a name was not known for a long time. Now Blizzard has broken the silence and introduced what the gunslinger will be called in the future.

What’s the name of McCree now? Cowboy Jesse McCree will be renamed in a future update of Overwatch. From now on he bears the name “Cole Cassidy” and is accordingly addressed by other characters and can be selected under this name in Overwatch 1 and 2.

The patch that implements the name change will be applied from October 26th.

Why was the name changed? McCree was a character in Overwatch who got his name directly from a Blizzard developer, namely Jesse McCree. He last worked on Diablo 4 as a level designer, but left Blizzard a few months ago. In the wake of the great sexism scandal at Blizzard, however, many allegations revolved around this developer, so the Overwatch team decided to give the cowboy a new name in the game.

How is the name change justified in the game? The developers have come up with at least a little story in order to “logically” enforce the renaming in the world of the game.

The introductory tweet stated that “the first thing an outlaw loses is his name”. The cowboy had been running away from himself for a long time and therefore assumed a false identity. But in the life of every cowboy there comes “a time when you have to hold out”.

McCree had to be honest with himself and his team, so he takes the name from the past again – his real name: Cole Cassidy.

This is only a small story bite, but definitely better than a blunt renaming, without any Lore explanation. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether that is a sufficient reason.

How is that received by the community? At least in the Overwatch subreddit, the new name seems to be well received. While there are some critics who believe that the name will take a while to establish, many appeal to it. Some players find it particularly amusing that the abbreviation for “Cole Cassidy” is simply “CC” – because the cowboy is one of the strongest CC characters in the game with his flashbang. Of course, nobody knows whether this was deliberate when naming it or just a coincidence.

What do you think of McCree’s new name? A good solution? Or does the name not fit the cowboy at all?