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A message from the Overwatch team. https://t.co/2W3AV7Pv6X

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A message from the Overwatch team. pic.twitter.com/2W3AV7Pv6X
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) August 26, 2021

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A message from the Overwatch team. https://t.co/2W3AV7Pv6X

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A message from the Overwatch team. https://t.co/2W3AV7Pv6X

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Overwatch: Cole Cassidy Name Announcement Tweet

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Overwatch: Cole Cassidy Name Announcement Tweet

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Meet Cole Cassidy.

Rides into Overwatch October 26.

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Meet Cole Cassidy.

Rides into Overwatch October 26. https://t.co/CT6PmaNXNs

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Meet Cole Cassidy.

Rides into Overwatch October 26. pic.twitter.com/CT6PmaNXNs
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) October 22, 2021

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Meet Cole Cassidy.

Rides into Overwatch October 26. https://t.co/CT6PmaNXNs

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Meet Cole Cassidy.

Rides into Overwatch October 26. https://t.co/CT6PmaNXNs

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Meet Cole Cassidy.

Rides into Overwatch October 26.

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News Story Investigation: Overwatch Jesse McCree Name Change

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News Story Investigation: Overwatch Jesse McCree Name Change

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Matt Mercer (McCree/Cole Cassidy's Voice Actor) on Name Change

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Matt Mercer (McCree/Cole Cassidy's Voice Actor) on Name Change

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It has been quite turbulent over at Activision Blizzard. Some of these wavy waters have spilled over into its games as Blizzard decided last week to rename Overwatch's cowboy hero Jesse McCree. McCree has been a big part of Overwatch and Matthew Mercer has been a big part of McCree as he has provided the voice for the former Deadlock Gang member since his reveal in March 2015. In a recent interview with ComingSoon, Mercer recently gave his thoughts on the name change, saying that it "needed to be done" while not forgetting those that were abused by Activision Blizzard.
MORE: Mortal Kombat Legends Creators Explain the Fan-Driven Memey Cameo
"I know this is a small consolation, but it's one that needed to be done for a lot of people to feel comfortable moving forward with the story of Overwatch and the characters," he said. "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."

But this wasn't a decision Blizzard came to without him. Blizzard actually called him to ask if he was OK with its plans, a formality that surprised him, especially since voice actors aren't always in the loop when it comes to decisions regarding their roles.

"They called me and asked if I was aware of the situation and I said, 'I very much am.' And 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 and it's just one small way amongst many that need to be done. We just wanted to call and let you know and make sure you were OK with that.' I was like, 'Yeah, thank you for letting me know. That's pretty cool.'"
MORE: Interview: Mortal Kombat Legends VA Speaks About Digging Into Raiden's Emotional Baggage
Mercer doesn't know what the cowboy will be called, but he appeared to be more focused on the healing process the name change was part of over the name change itself.

"If it was the one thing they did, it would be nowhere near enough," he said. "But it's just one facet of all the things they are seemingly doing internally to try to right a lot of wrongs. I feel so much for all of the people that were mistreated and were victims of individuals in the company that abused their power and positions. My heart has been breaking since the whole thing went down."

The nameless cowboy still means a lot to Mercer, but he said that he hopes the industry takes this awful series of events and uses it for bigger structural change that protects its workers.

"The character means a lot to me," said Mercer. "The whole experience of Overwatch has meant a tremendous amount to me and while I've had nothing but positive experiences in my limited time working with Blizzard, to see all this go down has been gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. I hope it's a very, very important change in the industry. It's a shame that it takes the scale of misuse, mismanagement, and abuse of power to really bring a light to it, but if there's any good that can come from this, it's that it should shape the industry. People should really reexamine how they run their development studios and the publishing process and ensure that these people are protected and given the respect and space."
MORE: Marvel's Midnight Suns Gets First Gameplay Walkthrough, Uses Card System
The real-life Jesse McCree was one of the key members embroiled in the accusations leveled at Activision Blizzard. The former Diablo 4 lead designer was seen in the infamous Cosby Suite picture and was let go in in early August. As such, Blizzard said it was no longer naming its characters after real-life people.

Fans had asked Blizzard to rename the hero. Overwatch League casters even voluntarily stopped calling McCree by his name and only referred to him with different nicknames. Blizzard said the name change will take time since it is trying to work it into the lore, but it is indeed coming.

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Overwatch Voice Actor on McCree Name Change: It 'Needed To Be Done'

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It has been quite turbulent over at Activision Blizzard. Some of these wavy waters have spilled over into its games as Blizzard decided last week to rename Overwatch's cowboy hero Jesse McCree. McCree has been a big part of Overwatch and Matthew Mercer has been a big part of McCree as he has provided the voice for the former Deadlock Gang member since his reveal in March 2015.

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overwatch "overwatch gameplay" "overwatch news" "overwatch funny moments" stylosa "overwatch guides" "overwatch tips" "overwatch tips and tricks" "overwatch ...

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Overwatch and Overwatch 2 with Stylosa! Welcome to my channel! I love covering Overwatch and any other competitive FPS games! Hopefully we can learn to become better players together, while having fun! Stream http://www.twitch.tv/stylosa Make sure you follow us on twitter too! http://www.twitter.com/stylosa Business enquiries - Stylosa@pbnj.gg

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More Info on Activision Blizzard Lawsuit

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More Info on Activision Blizzard Lawsuit

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The ongoing lawsuit against Activision Blizzard has made public some truly terrible and horrendous behavior that occurred across multiple studios and offices. Many women were allegedly sexually harassed, assaulted, and psychologically traumatized while the folks in power at the companies involved seemingly did little to stop or limit this behavior.

The lawsuit was filed on July 20 by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing after a years-long investigation turned up stories of multiple women suffering daily harassment and abuse while working at Activision Blizzard.

Since it was filed the fallout has been widespread, with former and current employees stepping forward to share more stories of abuse, offer apologies to those who were hurt, or attempt to distance themselves from the whole thing. Devs and workers at other studios have also begun to speak up and share their thoughts and pain too. It's been an awful, disturbing, and eye-opening past few weeks and to help you get caught up with what has happened since the lawsuit we've rounded up all our coverage in one place.

As this is an ongoing situation, we expect more stories about this lawsuit and its fallout will come in the near future so we plan on updating this post with new stories as we move forward.

The studio behind Halo and now Destiny issued yesterday, addressing the allegations of widespread sexual harrasssment and discrimination alleged in a new lawsuit brought by California regulators against Activision Blizzard . "We have a responsibility to acknowledge, reflect, and do what we can to push back on a persistent culture of harassment, abuse, and inequality that exists in our industry," the company wrote.
"We failed, and I'm sorry," he begins. "To all of you at Blizzard - those of you I know and those of you whom I've never met - I offer you my very deepest apologies for the part I played in a culture that fostered harassment, inequality, and indifference." Following troubling allegations regarding the work environments at Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard, several gaming outlets have opted to halt coverage of any games released by the mega-publishers. On July 23, former World of Warcraft lead designer Greg Street-who was at the original panel- responded to the controversy. In it, he tries to explain what happened while also admitting he made a mistake in a long series of tweets that eventually led to an apology. Street left Blizzard in 2013 and joined Riot Games the following year. Hundreds of current and former employees from across Activision Blizzard have signed a letter to the company's management calling its response to a recent lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment and discrimination at some of its offices "abhorrent and insulting." Reports included unwanted shoulder rubs, being propositioned for sex, sexual harassment within their first day, and even a "game" around the office where men would try to grope one another's genitals. These allegations haven't been as widely reported as the litany of testimonials from harassed women, but they also point to how systemic the issues were at the company. The announcement of the walkout is accompanied by a statement of intent letter addressed to Activision Blizzard management. The letter states that employees believe their values are not being reflected by management and issues a series of demands meant to improve working conditions for those subjected to harassment and discrimination. These demands include an end to mandatory arbitration, which forces complaining employees into extra-legal mediation rather than public court cases, revised recruiting, hiring, and promotion policies, pay rate transparency, and the hiring of a third-party organization to review the company's reporting policy, HR department, and executive staff.
Blizzard has promised to remove content "not appropriate for" World of Warcraft, likely in response to to creative director Alex Afrasiabi. This announcement comes after a short period of silence following the publication of a California state lawsuit against the company, which alleges Activision Blizzard fostered a pervasive environment of harassment against its female employees.
"I want to recognize and thank all those who have come forward in the past and in recent days. I so appreciate your courage. Every voice matters - and we will do a better job of listening now, and in the future. Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf." The "Cosby Suite" was more than just a nickname or a joke. Based on images and comments Afrasiabi posted on his Facebook supplied to Kotaku by a former developer at Blizzard, it was reportedly a booze-filled meeting place where many, including Afrasiabi, would pose with an actual portrait of Bill Cosby while smiling. It was also a hot spot for informal networking at BlizzCon, three sources told Kotaku, where people looking to make inroads at the company would go to meet and hang out with some of its top designers. While not everyone can attend the Activision Blizzard Walkout for Equality, there are other ways to show support for the employees of the company as they demand improved working conditions for women and other marginalized groups in the wake of their employer's inadequate response to California's sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit.
When Activision Blizzard, a company currently under fire for its discriminatory practices and rampant sexual harassment issues, hires WilmerHale, a law firm with a reputation for union-busting, heads turn and brows furrow.
But what's notable here is that rather acknowledging that she, as an executive employed in a leadership position at a company in turmoil, had made a bad tweet and responded accordingly-by doing something like locking her account, deleting the tweet, or simply ignoring the criticism and getting on with whatever the rich do on the weekend-she began systematically blocking anyone even mildly critical of her decision to share a story about the perils of whistleblowing while her company is in the midst of historically shocking allegations brought on by employees testifying confidentially. "Honestly, the sound of being booed by that many guys, honestly, in some ways that bothered me more than getting dismissed," she said. "You had that initial cheer from the women in the crowd and then just wave boos."
Brack was one of only two people explicitly named in California's lawsuit , which accused the now former head of Blizzard of failing to deal with internal reports of sexual harassment and sexism, including allegations that former World of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi would try to put his arms around and kiss female coworkers at company events.

As Dexerto points out, the websites for both the Overwatch League and the Call of Duty Leagues removed reference to T-Mobile at some point in July. On July 21, both sported the T-Mobile logo. By July 31, neither did. The 20th entry period of T-Mobile's Call of Duty sweepstakes has quietly been canceled. What's more, team members for the New York Subliners, a Call of Duty team, appear to have taped over the T-Mobile logo on their jerseys, which you've gotta admit is hilarious.

"You said you would do everything possible to work with employees in improving our workplace," wrote ABK Workers Alliance, the group also responsible for organizing last week's walkout protest at Blizzard headquarters, in a statement sent to Kotaku. "And yet, the solutions you proposed in that letter did not meaningfully address our requests. You ignored our call for an end to mandatory arbitration. You did not commit to adopting inclusive recruitment and hiring practices. You made no comment on pay transparency."

"One of the things [the HR rep] commented on was that she was surprised I wasn't crying or I wasn't more hysterical," one current employee told Axios, in regard to a time she alerted HR to being physically assaulted by a coworker.
Though some have renewed calls to boycott all Activision Blizzard products, it remains far from clear whether that's something any developers at the company, including the women most mistreated by it, even support a boycott. Kotaku reached out to a number of current and former Activision Blizzard developers for their thoughts on how fans can best try to bring about change at the company. Some didn't respond. Others didn't want their comments to draw attention away from the ABK Workers Alliance's current list of demands. Jesse McCree, the namesake for Overwatch's beloved cowboy fighter and most recently a designer on Diablo 4, was one of several current and former Blizzard developers who appeared in an image of a BlizzCon 2013 "Cosby Suite" obtained by Kotaku. The suite contained booze and a giant portrait of Bill Cosby and reportedly belonged to World of Warcraft developer Alex Afrasiabi. Long hours. Low pay. Tremendous instability. Working in quality assurance (QA) for a video game studio is notoriously difficult and painstaking enough as it is without factors like these complicating matters. Yet for QA testers at Activision Blizzard, a company that has come under fire in recent weeks for a whole host of troubling allegations, these may come with the territory. Indeed, a lengthy list of statements provided to Kotaku by the ABK Workers Alliance indicates as much, alongside other troubling claims, including pervasive hostility toward LGBT staffers. The updated lawsuit alleges that Activision Blizzard has not been cooperative with California's investigation. It cites Activision Blizzard's non-disclosure agreements, the requirement that employees must speak with the company before contacting the state department, and the hiring of union-busting law firm WilmerHale as examples of the company's lack of cooperation. Blizzard announced today on Twitter that it will be renaming Jesse McCree and delaying the start of Overwatch's next story arc. The change comes after the real-life developer for whom the cowboy character was named was let go from the company amid ongoing fallout from a California lawsuit accusing the company of widespread sexual harassment and discrimination. In late July, Blizzard announced it was taking steps to remove inappropriate content and references from World of Warcraft. Two of those changes surfaced in an early build of the upcoming 9.1.5 patch, which changes the name of two achievements so they no longer reference the phrase "bros before hoes" and large testicles. Activision Blizzard employees represented by the ABetterABK worker group filed a lawsuit against the Call of Duty publisher with the National Labor Review Board yesterday accusing it of union-busting. As spotted by WowHead user Archimtiros, the latest 9.1.5 patch for World of Warcraft updates some in-game paintings of women to be less revealing, while others have been removed altogether. A robed woman's image in Stormwind has been altered to cover more of her breasts, and a scantily clad reclining woman in Ravenholdt has met the strange fate of becoming a bowl of fruit. In an interview with Axios Gaming on September 17, the design director on the upcoming Diablo II remake explained that folks trying to decide if they should buy the game should "do what they feel is right." Many players don't want to support Activision Blizzard games after a recent lawsuit made public horrible stories and claims of abuse and harassment mostly targeting women at the company. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly launched a wide-reaching investigation into Activision Blizzard, with the government agency looking into how the embattled publisher handled the multiple allegations of sexual harassment, abuse, and toxic behavior that became public following a lawsuit filed in July. The SEC has subpoenaed Activision and several of its high-ranking execs, including CEO Bobby Kotick. Blizzard Entertainment's chief legal officer, Claire Hart, has resigned from the embattled company. She announced the news in a LinkedIn post yesterday, saying that last Friday, September 17, was her final day. Chacko Sonny, who has been at Blizzard since 2016 and has worked on both Overwatch games, announced his departure to colleagues on Friday, Bloomberg reports. In addition to his role on Overwatch he was also a company vice president. Kotick, of course, is receiving effective compensation of $154 million in 2021, meaning he could easily cover the $18 million cost of the EEOC lawsuit settlement many times over. Following news that Activision Blizzard plans to settle the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) complaint for just $18 million, workers at a labor union say it doesn't do enough to curb "corporate bad actors." The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a motion to intervene in a potential settlement between the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Activision Blizzard. The motion argues that the DFEH's own trial against Activision Blizzard will be irreparably damaged by the conditions of said settlement. As the legal maelstrom continues to grow in the multiple cases against Activision Blizzard, things have taken one of the most bizarre twists yet. The EEOC (with whom Activision Blizzard are attempting to settle) has accused the California DFEH (who are attempting to intervene in that settlement) of using its own former lawyers to fight against them. The Communication Workers of America union filed an objection to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) proposed settlement with Activision Blizzard regarding sexual harassment allegations at the game publisher. Activision Blizzard has requested additional time to investigate and potentially disqualify the California Department of Fair and Equal Housing from its ongoing legal battle with the agency. This is on account of potential ethics violations in its other ongoing legal battle with the California Department of Fair and Equal Housing. With the company still mired in lawsuits spurred on by historical allegations of harassment, Activision Blizzard has used an interview with the Financial Times to disclose that a number of employees have "exited," and more "disciplined," in the wake of the case. In a letter to the community posted today on Blizzard's website, the developer said that putting on a massive event like BlizzCon takes the time and energy of everyone at the company, time and energy that Blizzard feels at this time would be better put toward "supporting our teams and progressing development of our games and experiences." CEO Bobby Kotick-who has been in charge of the company during all the recent allegations of sexual harassment and abusive workplace conditions-is taking possible steps toward his claims of a commitment to inclusiveness. Among them, waiving arbitration, and having his salary cut to its lowest possible level. The delays were blamed on changes in leadership both at Blizzard and on the game development teams. Diablo 4 lost its director and lead designer over the summer, while Overwatch 2 lost its executive producer in September. Jen Oneal, who assumed joint duties of the top position at Blizzard in August, will step down from the company at the end of the year, she wrote in a statement today. In the meantime, she'll transition to a new but unspecified role at Activision Blizzard. Her co-lead, Mike Ybarra, will take over the rest of her responsibilities effective immediately. In the wake of a departing studio head and two major delays of anticipated games, the developer is bleeding players across the board, as it revealed during an Activision Blizzard earnings call last night. Across its portfolio, the studio's monthly active users plummeted by 13 percent year-over-year, to 26 million. The publisher behind announced yesterday that it would be improving pay and paid-time-off for contractors at the company, including raising the minimum hourly rate to $17 and paying them even during holiday breaks. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick claimed to be in the dark about widespread allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination that surfaced at the company earlier this year, but according to a new bombshell report by The Wall Street Journal, Kotick wasn't just aware of the misconduct, he was also involved in ignoring or downplaying the mistreatment of women. Amongst the latest wave of troubling revelations to come out of Activision Blizzard is the news that former exec Jennifer Oneal's incredibly brief stint as co-head of Blizzard ended due to her being "tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against." Earlier this year, an email was sent to all employees of Activision Blizzard from the email account of chief compliance officer Fran Townsend. Sent in the midst of historic allegations of harassment against the company, it was so bad that it was one of the direct, cited causes of a staff walkout. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that Townsend didn't even write it. Social media is aflame with demands that video game industry exec Bobby Kotick resign from his position as CEO of Activision Blizzard in the wake of reporting about his own terrible treatment of women. Leading the charge are Activision Blizzard employees themselves, who are planning another walkout. As the wider gaming world reacts to the latest wave of allegations against senior figures at Activision, including CEO Bobby Kotick, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan expressed his disappointment at Activision's response. In an email sent to PlayStation staff, Ryan said he felt "disheartened and frankly stunned." It seems silly to keep referring to them as "The Board", as though they're some mysterious, faceless group working from the shadows. This is the board of a video game company we're talking about here, not the Human Instrumentality Committee. It's only fair that if they're going to play such an important role in this whole mess that we at least know who it is we're talking about. Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, sent an email to staff calling the latest wave of allegations about Activision Blizzard deeply troubling, as first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed to Kotaku by Microsoft PR. Spencer joins a growing list of developers, shareholders, and game industry executives speaking up about reported abuse at one of the largest gaming publishers in the world.
This isn't a random anonymous petition we're talking about here; this is a public record where each worker puts their name and studio on the line in support of a statement condemning the actions of CEO Bobby Kotick, and demanding his immediate resignation.

"There was one example where an Activision employee had for years just signed his email signature 1-800-ALLCOCK," and Activision reportedly didn't take action regarding the email signature until it received a complaint about it just this past summer, at which point it fired the employee after a month-long investigation.

Besieged Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has reportedly said he will "consider leaving the company" if he can't speedily address the harassment issues that have made headlines around the world this year.

An email sent to all Nintendo of America employees by president Doug Bowser last week addresses the situation, opened with: " Along with all of you, I've been following the latest developments with Activision Blizzard and the ongoing reports of sexual harassment and toxicity at the company. I find these accounts distressing and disturbing, They run counter to my values as well as Nintendo's beliefs, values and policies. "

Faced with internal unrest, plummeting share prices, and a growing public relations disaster, the men and women at the very top of Activision Blizzard should all be resigning. Instead, they've put out a desperate press release in the middle of the night, announcing the formation of a "Workplace Responsibility Committee."

Bobby Kotick is a weasel of the highest order. And while he may finally be facing a reckoning for some of his actions as CEO of Activision Blizzard, it's been a long time coming.

The National Legal and Policy Center, a right-wing organization that "promotes ethics in public life," has written to Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO James Quincey, asking that he "immediately seek the resignation" of besieged Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick from the company's board of directors, on which Kotick also serves.

State treasurers from California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Delaware, and Nevada are calling on Activision Blizzard to take more serious measures in addressing ongoing high-profile investigations and lawsuits about the company's troubling culture. According to Axios, said treasurers have asked to meet with the board members at Activision Blizzard by December 20, threatening action against the company if it does not comply.

Today, contract testers at the Call of Duty studio Raven Software were told that the studio would face layoffs on January 28th of next year, a Call of Duty community manager said on Twitter. A source familiar with the goings-on at the company confirmed to Kotaku that for the next few days in early December, the quality assurance team would be meeting one-on-one with management individually to learn if they were out of a job.

Several Call of Duty developers have revealed to Kotaku that Activision Blizzard's internal unwillingness to directly respond to the recently announced Raven Software layoffs was what ultimately sparked the just-revealed, broader labor organizing effort at the troubled publisher.

Now in its second day, Activision Blizzard workers involved in the Raven walkout say QA from other studios have joined in from offices in Texas, Minnesota, and California, including at Blizzard's Irvine campus.

Today, a woman named Christine who works at major game publisher Activision Blizzard held a press conference with her lawyer Lisa Bloom to describe the sexual harassment she experienced at the company.

The ABK Worker Alliance, made up of employees at publishing giant Activision Blizzard, have called on supporters today to donate to a strike fund to support an ongoing work stoppage over recently announced layoffs.

With Activision Blizzard employees more organized than ever in the wake of the company's multiple sexual harassment lawsuits and layoffs in quality assurance, a top executive apparently felt the time was right to send out a fear-mongering email warning workers about the vague "consequences" of unionizing.

Call of Duty studio Treyarch just issued the latest in a long series of murky apologies from Activision-owned studios regarding the ongoing investigation into company-wide sexism, harassment, discrimination, and bullying. In a tweet issued today, Treyarch says there's no room in its culture for sexism, harassment, racism, bigotry, discrimination, or bullying.

Update 5 (12/26/2021, 2:45 p.m. ET): This will likely be the last time in 2021 this round-up is updated with new stories.

Update 4 (11/18/2021, 5:10 p.m. ET): This round-up has been updated with new stories.
Update 3 (10/02/2021, 4:00 p.m. ET): Once again this round-up has been updated again with more stories. Update 2 (08/21/21, 11:15 a.m. ET): This round-up has been updated again with more stories. Update (08/04/2021, 3:14 p.m. ET): This story was originally published on 7/31/21 at 3:30 PM. It has been expanded with additional stories since then.

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california department of fair employment and housing v. activision blizzard

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Everything That Has Happened Since The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Was Filed

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The ongoing lawsuit against Activision Blizzard has made public some truly terrible and horrendous behavior that occurred across multiple studios and offices. Many women were allegedly sexually harassed, assaulted, and psychologically traumatized while the folks in power at the companies involved seemingly did little to stop or limit this behavior.

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Kotaku Article: Overwatch League Casters Stop Saying McCree's Name

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Kotaku Article: Overwatch League Casters Stop Saying McCree's Name

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Highlights Competitive Overwatch and Fan Response to Jesse McCree participation in "Cosby Suite"

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McCree is Overwatch's iconic gunslinger, but some casters commentating over official competitions are now avoiding saying his name. The shift comes after Jesse McCree, the real-life Blizzard developer who the character is named after, was pictured in a now infamous "Cosby Suite" that took place at BlizzCon 2013.

Over the weekend, a fan spotted Overwatch League casters Brennon 'Bren' Hook and Josh 'Sideshow' Wilkinson appearing to avoid saying McCree's name during the matches. Instead of saying "McCree," they referred to him as "the cowboy." , Hook and Wilkinson both went on to "like" the Tweet noticing the change, and fellow Overwatch caster Mitch 'Uber' Leslie tweeted earlier this week that he thought this was a good idea.

A spokesperson for Blizzard esports told Kotaku it was not involved in the casters' decision. "I can confirm that this was, in no way, a directive from the Overwatch League or Blizzard," they said. Hook and Wilkinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [ Update - 10:55 p.m. ET, 8/12/21: "[I] can comfortably say that it was a personal decision from Josh and I," Hook told Kotaku in an email.]

But it's definitely a change some fans have been clamoring for. Originally mentioned in California's lawsuit against Activision Blizzard alleging widespread sexual harassment and discrimination, a recent report by Kotaku revealed the "Cosby Suite" at BlizzCon 2013 to be an actual room. An informal networking hotspot, it included several Blizzard developers in a booze-filled hotel room posing with a giant portrait of the comedia and, in one picture, huddled around then- World of Warcraft designer Alex Afrasiabi.

Afrasiabi is accused in the California lawsuit of repeatedly sexually harassing female coworkers and others, and sources have told Kotaku that this behavior was an open secret. Jesse McCree, a longtime Blizzard developer, was one of the people posing in the 2013 "Cosby Suite." He was also reportedly part of a Cosby Crew chat group in which, when Afrasiabi wrote he planned to marry women coming up to the Cosby Suite, McCree responded "You misspelled fuck."

As first reported by Kotaku, McCree and two other Blizzard developers were officially let go from the company yesterday, though Activision Blizzard did not not confirm the reason for the departures. Two sources told Kotaku that no reason was provided when teams were told internally either.

McCree's departure, however, has now only added fuel to fan calls for the Overwatch character named after him to be given a new one. The changes might require recording new dialogue for when the character is mentioned in-game, if not impact the ongoing development of Overwatch 2. Afrasiabi, whom Activision Blizzard confirmed was terminated for his conduct early last year, has only recently had references to his name scrubbed from World of Warcraft as part of an effort to "rebuild trust" with fans.

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Overwatch League Casters Stop Saying McCree's Name

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McCree is Overwatch's iconic gunslinger, but some casters commentating over official competitions are now avoiding saying his name. The shift comes after Jesse McCree, the real-life Blizzard developer who the character is named after, was pictured in a now infamous "Cosby Suite" that took place at BlizzCon 2013.

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Dextero Report: Players Demand McCree Name Change

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Dextero Report: Players Demand McCree Name Change

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Refutes statement given in Asmongold video

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Overwatch players are calling for Jesse McCree to be renamed after a developer the hero is named after was featured in a Blizzard report outlining allegations against the company.
On July 27, as Blizzard employees staged a walkout protest, Kotaku reported on the infamous "Cosby Suite" at BlizzCon 2013 - a nickname given to Alex Afrasiabi's booze-filled hotel room.

The report featured a photo of a group chat screenshot that had been uploaded to Afrasiabi's Facebook. In it, former designer David Kosak wrote "I am gathering the hot chixx for the Coz."

"You can't marry ALL of them Alex," he added, which prompted Afrasiabi to disagree. "I can, I'm Middle Eastern."

A chat log in the article makes it really gross that Overwatch character Jesse McCree was named after a real life, longtime developer at Blizzard. pic.twitter.com/KWzkxNrpL9

- Overbuff (@Overbuff) July 28, 2021

Following this, WoW Level Designer Jesse McCree chimed in with "You misspelled f**k."

Jesse McCree, of course, is also a character from Overwatch who seems to have been named after the dev. In a 2019 BlizzCon panel, McCree the developer claimed his parents were "big Overwatch fans."

Players want Jesse McCree renamed in Overwatch

Following this news, players have begun calling for Blizzard to rename the cowboy hero.

Petition for @PlayOverwatch to rename Jesse McCree to Matt Mercer in light of the real life Jesse McCree being a greasy "Cosby Suite" dwelling scumbag. #ActiBlizzWalkout #blizzardlawsuit #Blizzard

- Woover (@DailyWoover) July 28, 2021

"Petition for Overwatch to rename Jesse McCree to Matt Mercer in light of the real life Jesse McCree being a greasy 'Cosby Suite' dwelling scumbag," one player wrote on Twitter.

Others went as far as calling for the devs to kill off the character. "Kill off Jesse mcCree or give us his real name for Overwatch 2, I'm never speaking that PoS name again."

With so many players calling for change, it will be interesting to see what actions are taken. Previously, the WoW dev team stated they would be removing references "not appropriate" for their world following the allegations.

@PlayOverwatch kill off Jesse mcCree or give us his real name for Overwatch 2, I'm never speaking that PoS name again. Disgusted.

- eatsmoke (@eatsmokes) July 28, 2021

Of course, removing McCree's name would also mean redoing multiple in-game interactions and voice lines, so it's not as simple as it may sound.

Whether or not the hero ends up being locked until changes are made or even killed off in Overwatch 2 remains unknown, but the idea of Jesse McCree not really being the hero's real name seems like a plausible route.

The Overwatch devs have not yet commented on the situation.

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Overwatch players demand McCree name change after damning Blizzard report

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Overwatch players are calling for Jesse McCree to be renamed after a developer the hero is named after was featured in a Blizzard report outlining allegations against the company. On July 27, as Blizzard employees staged a walkout protest, Kotaku reported on the infamous "Cosby Suite" at BlizzCon 2013 - a nickname given to Alex Afrasiabi's booze-filled hotel room.

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Asmongold is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber who is primarily known for playing World of Warcraft. He is a co-owner of and content creator for One True King, a gaming organization consisting of online content creators.

Asmongold first gained popularity through his YouTube channel where he started uploading videos in 2009. He has been active on Twitch since 2014, gaining a cult following as a World of Warcraft streamer. Ahead of the 2017 announcement of World of Warcraft Classic, he had long wished for and speculated about the game mode's development. Upon the release of Classic in 2019, he surged in overall popularity. He was also one of the platform's most popular World of Warcraft streamers during the 2020 release of Shadowlands.

On July 3, 2021, Asmongold started playing Final Fantasy XIV to hundreds of thousands of viewers. In the weeks following, FFXIV experienced substantial growth in the number of players and overall popularity. He eventually began to also play other games like and near their time of release. He returned to Final Fantasy XIV on June 21, 2022.

In 2022, Asmongold started to branch out into more variety style streams. Asmongold has expressed his strong interest in continuing to branch out into creating all the different types of content he enjoys.

Asmongold opposes pay-to-win mechanics in video games such as Diablo Immortal. In 2022, he reached out to Republican politician Ted Cruz on the possibility of outlawing such mechanics. Cruz agreed with Asmongold's views and expressed interest in meeting him.

In October 2021, his mother died after complications from advanced COPD, leading to his temporary hiatus from streaming.

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Asmongold is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber who is primarily known for playing World of Warcraft . He is a co-owner of and content creator for One True King, a gaming organization consisting of online content creators. Asmongold first gained popularity through his YouTube channel where he started uploading videos in 2009.

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Blizzard announced today on Twitter that it will be renaming Jesse McCree and delaying the start of Overwatch's next story arc. The change comes after the real-life developer for whom the cowboy character was named was let go from the company amid ongoing fallout from a California lawsuit accusing the company of widespread sexual harassment and discrimination.

"We built the Overwatch universe around the idea that inclusivity, equity, and hope are the building blocks of a better future," the development team wrote in a statement. "As we continue to discuss how we best live up to our values and to demonstrate our commitment to creating a game world that reflects them, we believe it's necessary to change the name of the hero currently known as McCree to something that better represents what Overwatch stands for."

Blizzard had previously planned to launch a new narrative arc in Overwatch in September, but because McCree played a key role in it, the content has been delayed until later in the year. A new FFA map will be added to the game in the meantime.

"Going forward, in-game characters will no longer be named after real employees and we will be more thoughtful and discerning about adding real world references in future Overwatch content," the team wrote.

McCree was originally named after longtime Blizzard designer Jesse McCree. But Blizzard faced growing calls to rename the character after a Kotaku report surfaced old Facebook images showing McCree posing with other Blizzard staff in front of a giant portrait of Bill Cosby at a BlizzCon 2013 hotel room nicknamed the "Cosby Suite." The images also included a text chat in which World of Warcraft designer Alex Afrasiabi wrote about marrying women that were being brought back to the room. "You misspelled fuck," McCree wrote back. Afrasiabi is one developer named in a California lawsuit that accuses him of serially sexually harassing female coworkers.

Afrasiabi was terminated from Blizzard last year for "misconduct." But it wasn't until the lawsuit made allegations against him public and a fan backlash ensued that the company began removing references to him from World of Warcraft. The changes were made to " rebuild trust " with the game's community in the wake of the lawsuit.

McCree was most recently a designer on Diablo 4. But two weeks ago Activision Blizzard confirmed he was no longer employed at the company, along with game director Luis Barriga and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft. LeCraft was also pictured in the Cosby Suite. Barriga has not been named in any of the current allegations against the company.

"We have a deep, talented roster of developers already in place and new leaders have been assigned where appropriate," a spokesperson for Activision Blizzard said at the time. "We are confident in our ability to continue progress, deliver amazing experiences to our players, and move forward to ensure a safe, productive work environment for all." No reason for the departures was given.

Even before today's announcement, some in the Overwatch community had stopped using McCree's name in reference to the character. Overwatch League casters Brennon 'Bren' Hook and Josh 'Sideshow' Wilkinson stopped using it during live broadcasts earlier this month and stated it was a personal choice.

Update, 8/26/21, 4:43 p.m. ET: The Washington Post that references to McCree, Barriga, and LeCraft that are still currently in World of Warcraft will be removed as well.

"We can confirm that those references in World of Warcraft will be removed," a spokesperson for Activision Blizzard said in a statement to the Post.

Update, 8/26/21, 6:07 p.m. ET: "We will be reviewing the real-world references currently used in our games and making decisions based on how they best represent core values for our games," a spokesperson for Blizzard told Kotaku when asked why references to Barriga and LeCraft were also being removed.

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Blizzard Is Changing McCree's Name In Overwatch Amid Lawsuit [Update]

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Blizzard announced today on Twitter that it will be renaming Jesse McCree and delaying the start of Overwatch's next story arc. The change comes after the real-life developer for whom the cowboy character was named was let go from the company amid ongoing fallout from a California lawsuit accusing the company of widespread sexual harassment and discrimination.

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California has expanded its anti-discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, adding temporary workers to the female full-time employees of whom it is suing on behalf. The state's Department of Fair Employment & Housing also alleges the game maker has interfered with its investigation.

Why it matters: While Activision Blizzard has attempted to show over the past month that it is addressing issues raised in the suit, the DFEH is turning up the heat.

Between the lines: The amended complaint was filed Monday and redefines the "group" it says was wronged by the gaming giant.

A copy reviewed by Axios specifically mentions that California's protections against anti-harassment, equal pay and other equal employment opportunity protections "exist for employees and contingent or temporary workers."

Throughout the lawsuit, the word "employees" has been changed to "workers" in reference to harassment, sex discrimination regarding pay and other allegations.

The DFEH also says Activision Blizzard has stymied its efforts through NDAs, requiring employees to speak with the company ahead of contacting the DFEH, and its involvement with WilmerHale, a law firm the game maker said will investigate misconduct issues.

The suit claims that this "directly interferes" with DFEH's ability to "investigate, prosecute, and remedy workplace discrimination and harassment violations on behalf of employees and contingent or temporary workers."

It alleges, in part, that "documents related to investigations and complaints were shredded by human resource personnel" in violation of what it asserts is the game company's legal obligation to retain them pending the investigation.

A spokesperson for Activision Blizzard told Axios that the company has "complied with every proper request in support of its review even as we had been implementing reforms to ensure our workplaces are welcoming and safe for every employee."

"Withregards to claims that we have destroyed information by shredding documents, those claims are not true. We took appropriate steps to preserve information relevant to the DFEH investigation," the spokesperson added.

"We have provided the DFEH with clear evidence that we do not have gender pay or promotion disparities. Our senior leadership is increasingly diverse, with a growing number of women in key leadership roles across the company."

The big picture: The change comes after stories revealed toxic conditions faced by Activision Blizzard contract workers.

Stories shared with Axios from the ABK Workers Alliance specifically from the quality assurance and customer service departments paint a picture of brutal overtime paired with little pay.

"As a contract employee, I feel there's a lot of pressure to excel, impress, and move through the ranks as fast as you can before your contract ends and you're forced to go 3 months without income or find another job," one worker said. "I take pride in what I do, but it feels like it's never enough. "

"We suffer from stress," another worker said. "We suffer physical ailments. We are overworked and underpaid across the board."

Editors note: This story has been updated with comment from Activision Blizzard.

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California updates lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, says game maker is interfering

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California has expanded its anti-discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, adding temporary workers to the female full-time employees of whom it is suing on behalf. The state's Department of Fair Employment & Housing also alleges the game maker has interfered with its investigation.

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If you’re wondering who’s behind all this, this should fill you in

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Linked in the About Section on Kotaku

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A Note About ‘Brutal’ Comments and a Kotaku For Everyone

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I was recently asked to be more clear with readers about who Kotaku is and isn’t for.

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Blizzard CANCELS Overwatch Hero! Asmongold on McCree's Rename

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Blizzard McCree Name Change Drama Explained - Why Overwatch Will Rename The Hero