The name change haven’t been made for you or the sponsors or for the three angry players on Twitter, it was made because the Overwatch team felt uneasy to work on the character knowing what the heroes namesake have did.
Jesse McCree wasn’t only just a “namesake”. The Overwatch Team have signed a contract with him so his name can be used in a game hes not a part of. There was an official and formal bond between the real and fictional character.
If you don’t like the new name or don’t want to call him on it then you can still stay with McCree. Its not being forced down on everyone.
Regardless of whatever Blizz’s reasoning is, the fact of the matter is that terrible people shouldn’t be honored or glorified in any way. Changing the name was The Right Thing To Do.
Sigma is named after Kuiper, an astronomist
Gabriel is named after the Archangel
Mercy is named after the word “Angel”
Sojourn is named after Sojourner Truth, a speaker and nurse
I think its fine to name an outlaw after an outlaw
The ship has well and truly sailed on ‘glorification’ of Old West gangsters. Your problem is mainly with Hollywood, not Blizzard. But the character isn’t called Butch Cassidy, he’s Cole Cassidy.
McCree is a vigilante, not an ‘outlaw’. He is a straight up good guy character. Butch Cassidy was a bank robber and murderer.
No, my problem is with the double standard. His name is an obvious reference to butch Cassidy. Both are ‘cowboys’, but that is where their similarities end. If you think having a reference to a murderer is fine, and not having a name that is the same as someone who sexually harassed people it is you who needs to reflect inward.
That was the main reason, but long time fans can still give their opinion. They did take that into consideration even if they ultimately went through with the change.
Also, people will probably get grief from certain fans for calling him McCree, I assure you. I expect “deadnaming” to be a source of unironic controversy. Though probably nothing major unless a broadcaster screws up in the OWL.
As far as the name itself goes, it’s just “fine” for me. Something feels off or like it’s missing, but that might just be the loss of a syllable in his first name (now three in the last). It doesn’t feel as “smooth.”
Coke Cassidy was literally the member of a gang (although he eventually left), a black-ops military organisation (Blackwatch), and an illegal militarised group (Reformed Overwatch).
Jessie McCree was ‘all those things’ too. He is a vigilante. Just cause he shared a name with someone that did something bad doesn’t mean anything. Just like Cole Cassidy being a straight up reference to someone who is MUCH WORSE than the guy that sexually harassed people at blizzard.
It is funny how people are fine with the double standard. At least they will be until said double standard messes them over.
I mean, it IS just a surname; a lot of people have the same surname. It’s one thing to say that Jesse McCree, who is directly and known to be named after a sexual predator IRL now, is glorifying a bad man - and the surname Cassidy is automatically and forever taken by Butch Cassidy. There are other families with that surname that aren’t murderers.
I understand they probably chose the surname due to the ‘cowboy mental reference’ people will get out of it, but I think it’s a stretch to say that picking it glorifies Butch Cassidy when his new name isn’t… Butch Cassidy.
