[5] While the project itself was cancelled, after Overwatch's development team took a liking to the design's combination of science fiction and gunslinger archetypes,[2] it was recycled for a new character in the game.

[6] In their eyes the design had everything they wanted in a playable character : a strong personality, unique visual style, and memorable pop culture themes.

[3] The name was used for the character until 2021, when in July of that year a lawsuit was filed by California's Department of Fair Employment against Activision Blizzard related to workplace misconduct and discrimination against female employees.

His in game 3D model consists of several layered meshes,[10] causing some difficulty when creating skins for the character, as some of his animations interacted with his belt and hat.

This skin led to a significant amount of fan reaction, with Nathan Grayson of Kotaku comparing it in appearance to actor Owen Wilson, and others trying to comprehend what "SAMF" was supposed to mean exactly.

[12] With the release of Overwatch 2, the character's design was revised, giving him a full beard, additional armor plating, and most notably a lighter skintone.

This led to some confusion amongst players, as some had assumed due to his darker skin color the character possibly had Native American or Hispanic heritage prior to the change.

At some point in his early life, he assumed the pseudonym of "Jesse McCree" to hide from his past, and joined the Deadlock Gang, a group of traffickers in military hardware operating in the American Southwest.

When Overwatch began to collapse and Blackwatch sought to reform it to its own ends, Cassidy went underground, resurfacing years later as a gunslinger for hire, dropping his false name.

[17] In Overwatch 2, Cassidy gains a short term boost to his reload and movement speed after killing an enemy, due to a new passive ability given to all "Damage" class characters.

[23] Author Matt Margini cited Cassidy as an example of the enduring nature of the cowboy aesthetic, stating that Overwatch wouldn't be the same without the "(literal) straight shooter who keeps the game tethered both thematically and mechanically to more grounded forms of gunplay.

They additionally praised the character's sense of decency, putting others before himself or the mission to keep them safe and his interactions that contrasted against the more stern faces of the Overwatch group.

He shared Marshall's approval of his sense of decency, and added that Cassidy "has it where it counts [...] You're supposed to feel intimidated by the stone-cold manliness he resurrects from the past.