Earlier this year, Overwatch‘s McCree was given a new name: Cole Cassidy. Activision Blizzard made the name change as part of an effort to distance the company from former employee Jesse McCree, but an in-game explanation for the change has not been provided thus far. However, it seems that will be changing in a new series from Dark Horse Comics! Overwatch: New Blood is a five-part digital limited series written by Ray Fawkes, with art by Irene Koh. The series will apparently tie-in with this week’s Cassidy’s New Blood challenge, which will begin in Overwatch starting on November 9th.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Overwatch‘s announcement for Cassidy’s New Blood Challenge, alongside Dark Horse’s reaction, can be found embedded below.
As of this writing, Dark Horse has not announced a release date for the first issue of Overwatch: New Blood. McCree’s name change to Cole Cassidy comes as part of an effort on the part of Activision Blizzard to remove content named after several former staffers, including Jesse McCree, Luis Barriga, and Jon LeCraft. Back in August, Blizzard pledged to make changes at the company following accusations of racism, sexism, and “frat boy culture.” As part of those changes, the company indicated that it would be altering a number of names, places, and references in its games.
While Overwatch‘s Cole Cassidy is easily the most high-profile name change resulting from Blizzard’s efforts, the game is not the only one to feature references to McCree. In fact, World of Warcraft has similarly removed several references to the former staffer, while also changing a number of suggestive references. It remains to be seen how Cole will get his new name in Overwatch lore, but diehard fans of the game will be happy to get an explanation that addresses the change, regardless.
Overwatch is currently available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. You can check out our previous coverage of the game right here.
Are you excited to check out Overwatch: New Blood when it releases? What do you think of the Cole Cassidy name? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: GameSpot]
