Overwatch's McCree Actor Breaks His Silence On Name Change
Activision Blizzard seems like it's on a new mission to repent for the serious allegations presented in a recent lawsuit against the company. It's taken steps to improve work conditions like making surprising decisions about its leadership and firing potentially problematic staff like "Diablo 4" lead designer Jesse McCree, who shares a name with one of the most popular "Overwatch" characters. Fans weren't satisfied with firing real-life McCree, though. They wanted the homage completely gone from the game, too. So Blizzard agreed to change the "Overwatch" character's name after fan outcry. Thankfully, the cowboy hero's voice actor agrees with the move.
In an exclusive interview with ComingSoon, voice actor Matthew Mercer broke his silence on the controversy over his character's name. Mercer said he understood that, while any other name might be just as sweet to some, McCree's name "represents a connection to a lot of people's pain and abuse." When given the opportunity to change that, he agreed wholeheartedly. "I know this is a small consolation, but it needed to be done for a lot of people to feel comfortable moving forward with the story of Overwatch and the characters," he told ComingSoon. Mercer went into detail about how the name change conversation began at Blizzard and shared how the developer initially approached him about it.
"That's pretty cool"
Blizzard reached out to Mercer first to ask if he would be okay with changing the name of his character. He said the gesture surprised him, considering its not uncommon for voice actors to be left out of major decisions concerning their characters.
"They said, 'As a part of this process, we want to separate this character from the terrible circumstance and give the opportunity to make this right ... We just wanted to call and let you know and make sure you were OK with that,'" Mercer said. "I was like, 'Yeah, thank you for letting me know. That's pretty cool.'" Mercer reiterated that his experiences with "Overwatch" and Blizzard have been "nothing but positive," but he acknowledged that isn't the case with everyone and hopes that the industry can learn from the lawsuit.
Not even Mercer knows what his character will be called in the future. However, Blizzard will likely introduce the new name before the end of the year, considering the controversial cowboy has a significant role in the next "Overwatch" arc. In the meantime, fans have plenty of guesses about what his new name will be. Hopefully, "Overwatch" fans will have something more concrete to call him soon.