Matthew Mercer, McCree’s voice actor has given his thoughts on the name change. In short, he agrees with Blizzard’s decision and says it needed to be done. The source comes from Matthew’s interview with ComingSoon.
I won’t go over everything but I will give the run down:
He is fully aware of the McCree controversy.
Blizzard called him personally to ask how he felt about the name change. He said he is alright with it.
He does not know what McCree’s new name will be.
He understands if the name change seems out of place for some fans. However he also states that this is needed as the name is too tainted as it is.
Since the last point is the biggest standout here, I will provide the quote on it:
“People have different opinions on it and some can say that it’s just a name and that it is ridiculous to change it, but it’s a name that also represents a connection to a lot of people’s pain and abuse. And if we have the opportunity to make it better and let that lie in the past and let the character live as something separate like it should, then I can’t help but be behind that.” - Matthew Mercer
Also in regards to the Blizzard controversy:
The whole situation has been gut-wrenching and heartbreaking for him.
He hopes for the industry to change for the better.
As always feel free to share your thoughts but please be respectful in this topic. Personally I do agree with Matthew Mercer’s stance on McCree getting a name change.
After a year it will just be hipsters trying to look edgy and cool calling him McCree. People will shift because callouts only work if they are universal and a year from now with OW2 half a team will have no clue who McCree is so the callout is useless so people will start by using his new name as a callout and once it starts that way it trickles down to every other mention.
It doesn’t matter really, new people will refer to him by his new name and some current players will also use the new name. If casters who have been using the name can easily transition into not using it then I don’t see the reason as to why other people can’t unless they actively refuse to do it which is something else entirely.
imagines Matt Mercer, cup of herbal tea in hand, sitting by the window sill in the dark as the rain slowly trickles down the glass like the tear falling down his cheek
Who talks like that, honestly…
I’d be like “It’s saddening and disappointing what’s occurred, I hope the guilty are punished and the victims see justice.”
Not sure this warrants the 50 thousand articles and threads and debates and arguments that will surely ensue, but all power to y’all.
In reality, it’s a clear cut thing. Both sides have feelings on the matter but this was always ultimately the dev teams decision to make and I commend them for landing on a decision that empathised with the devs that were/are affected and had to work on a game with a character named after that dude. I’m glad they’ve finally apparently learned the lesson of not naming characters after real life people and will stop doing that going forwards.
This was all handled correctly and whilst I can understand some peoples feelings of wanting the name to stay as it was, it gets trumped by the feelings of the dev team members. End of.
So, I’m glad that Mr voice actor man has empathy. That’s a good attribute to have. Here’s a medal.
to me, the name change is honestly pointless, but it doesn’t matter. old players will continue calling him mccree, because that is what they are use to or comfortable with, while new player will call him by his new name.
I mean, we can take Wrecking ball for example. I call him hamtaro, other people call him hammond, hamster or ball.
While I respect the opinion of the VA who voices a character undergoing changes for whatever reason, this case being the controversy behind the name; it’s really not suprising.
He likes the contract and it pays well. Of course he will agree on the change. The alternative being negative press and losing a profitable gig.
Exactly, he’s hardly gonna bite the hand that feeds.
Agree.
By extension of their logic, they should remove the character and all references from him but they won’t.
How entitled. Just because you’ve had enough of talking about it doesn’t mean others have. Especially if people have experienced abuse themselves you’re essentially telling them to get over it.
I’m not addressing amorphous vague concept of “victims” out there in the world, I’m addressing the topic spam around this namechange
and posters who wanna bicker about every little aspect, on both sides (for or against the change) (although I’ll admit those kinda topics are becoming less and less now)
The change is gonna happen no matter what we say on here. So we might as well just accept it and move on towards a brighter future.
I’m just saying we don’t need a million “the name change is bad/good and here’s why” topics from every single poster. We are essentially keeping the controversy and the actual abuser alive by continuing to feed it fuel like that
