Cruel practices lost an Overwatch hero his name

This story about trying to turn a new leaf, boiled down, in 1:42 minutes.

What's the fuss?

Due to an ongoing discrimination lawsuit, a game is changing the name of one of its most beloved characters. This gesture of goodwill may not be enough.

The situation

Overwatch, the 2016 first person shooter from Activision Blizzard, is beloved for its diverse roster of heroes.

With each of its characters diverse and hailing from different nations, players are able to identify and connect with these heroes on an inherent level.
These characters have been so iconic that they have been featured in other forms of media.

One of these iconic characters, the cowboy Jesse McCree, is getting his name changed due to him sharing a name with a now disgraced ex-employee of Blizzard.

Blizzard has marketed the change as a hero "running from his past" and choosing to "be honest with himself" about who he really is.
Jesse McCree will now be known as Cole Cassidy and will come into effect in-game and in the game's esports league later this week.

Boiling it down

The name change was derivative of the ongoing discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit against Activision Blizzard by the state of California as well as others.

The company is alleged to have fostered a "frat boy culture" that has historically silenced marginalized employees.
McCree was said to be involved with the infamous "Cosby Suite" incident, a hotel room nicknamed after Bill Cosby where "informal networking" would occur at the developer's yearly conference.

Having said that, it's probably not the best idea to name fictional characters off of real life people to avoid confusing your audience when an event like this occurs.

Many of Activision Blizzard's other game characters have since been renamed due to fan protest.
Although reception has generally been positive, there are some skeptics that see this as a meaningless gesture from Blizzard to distance themselves away from the allegations.

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