Recent controversies at Blizzard have shaken the development studio’s game communities in complex ways. Several long-term employees have left the company following the State of California’s lawsuit alleging gender discrimination at Activision Blizzard, with their work spread across all of Blizzard’s games.Overwatchwas hit perhaps harder than others, due to one of its heroes being named after a departing employee. Now theOverwatchcommunity is working to heal, brainstorming ideas for new names.
ThoseOverwatchfans may not have to reach very far for a new name, either. One resourcefulOverwatchfan pulled up a piece of concept art from the game’s development that could prove very useful. The piece of art features a large number ofcharacters that never made it intoOverwatch, or more specifically, characters that were later redesigned or chopped to pieces to create fully fleshed-out characters. It just so happens that one of the characters appears to be a precursor to the one now without a name.
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The proto-character is named McCloud and from the neck up looks extremely similar to the now-namelessOverwatchcharacter. He has reddish auburn hair, as well as a beard. That’s where the similarities, unfortunately, end, however. McCloud is a Scottish warrior with clear inspiration from the sci-fi movie The Highlander. He wields a large sword and has an ability named Only One. Beyond his head, there’s no other connection to the nameless American cowboy inOverwatch.
That’s just how Blizzard designed characters early on inOverwatch’s development, however. It’s very realistic that McCloud’s head was taken to make the American cowboy gunslinger character instead. There are many other examples, like proto-Mercy being named Angelica,Genjioriginally being named Hanzo, and Pharah being a shotgun-wielding pyromaniac named Firestarter. Needless to say, virtually everyOverwatchcharacter went through massive changes before release, except maybe Reaper.
Ultimately, while McCloud does seem to have been the name for a character somewhat influential onOverwatch’s cowboy character at one point, it doesn’t make much sense to use anymore.Overwatch’s community membersget a gold star for effort, but there are likely plenty of better options.
As for when Blizzard will be making a name change to the character, it’s currently in the works.Blizzard has recently confirmedthat it’s moving forward, but it requires a lot of work. That’s because Blizzard has recorded audio for the name from dozens of voice actors across all ofOverwatch’s supported languages. Then there’s the in-game text and assets that need to be changed, too.
Overwatchis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
