Here we need to expose a problem that is quite relevant for us fans of the lore: How much will this announcement affect when we read the Overwatch lore? I am quite aware that it is impossible to completely replace all the sources citing Jesse McCree, both technologically and editorially. But I also think it’s a particularly controversial choice.
For example, if you know [insert name] in the game, and then look for its old products, find the name McCree, inevitably you must know the reasons for the history of this change. In your opinion, is this “break” in one’s narrative immersion right for a media notion? when entertainment and fantasy must clash with censorship and the necessary information? I think it is an excellent reflection.
I understand the change to mean, his name from this point forward will be something else, but it will still be canon that the name he went by was McCree at some point.
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yes, but here we enter into analyzing the difference between retcon and adaptation:
- Retcon example: Hi, I’m [Cowboy]. Who is McCree? Did you call me that yesterday? Who knows … (eham, blizzard scnadal);
- Adaptation example: Hi, my name is [Cowboy]. Well, I actually called myself McCree but that was just a nickname for my real name, Joel. I simply decided to turn my life around, and call myself [Cowboy];
Actually the second case came to my mind with the “Fenix” protoss from StarCraft II, which at some point realized it was a clone with the memory of the real Fenix. So he decides to give himself a new name, Tandalar.
It disturbs me enough that they could literally ignore the whole context in which he was called McCree in the past. Because it could mean that anyone who knows it must also know the history of its development and its retcon … it’s … unpleasant. since you were in a science fiction world for a moment you have to stop your narrative reading for this notion. 
Don’t get me wrong, it’s super important to never forget what happened, but how much does it have to affect the narrative imagination?
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