Call of Duty removes Nickmerc’s skin after streamer’s anti-LGBTQ tweet

Call of Duty publisher Activision has removed the Nickmercs Operator bundle from its offering Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 And war zone Stores, named after the streamer and former MLG champion it is named after, penned an anti-LGBTQ tweet.

On Tuesday, esports broadcaster Chris Puckett responded to footage shared on Twitter of anti-LGBTQ protesters attacking pro-LGBTQ protesters in Glendale, Calif., outside of a school board meeting. In his quote tweet he said: “Americans are in a sad situation right now. Let people love who they love and live your own life.”

Nick Kolcheff, who streams under the Nickmercs name, tweeted in response, a common anti-LGBTQ talking point that far-right conservatives use to disparage trans people. “You should leave little kids alone,” Nickmercs tweeted. “That’s the real problem.” Numerous Twitter users tweeted their disappointmentin response to the statement.

The following day, Nickmercs livestreamed and said he would not apologize or remove the statement from Twitter. “I don’t apologize for the tweet because I don’t feel like it’s wrong,” he said, saying that he and his wife “want to be the right ones.”[s] to talk to our child about such things.”

Nickmercs is a popular Twitch streamer with 6.7 million Twitch subscribers and 2.6 million followers on Instagram. He is a member and co-owner of FaZe Clan, an esports and lifestyle organization. The Nickmercs bundle debuted in Call of Duty on May 31, along with a similar bundle for streamer TimTheTatman. Activision has since withdrawn a blog post Advertisement for the two packages.

CharlieIntel, a site that shares Call of Duty news, first noticed The Nickmercs skins are disappearing from Call of Duty stores Thursday, saying, “Apparently Activision has removed the Nickmercs bundle from the.” war zone And MII Store tonight,” noting, “The removal of his package comes one day after Nickmercs’ recent comments about the LGBT+ community.”

The official Call of Duty Twitter Account responded the same day confirming the removal of the “NICKMERCS Operator” package from these two stores. “We are focused on celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community,” the Call of Duty tweet said. An Activision representative emailed Polygon the same statement.

Nickmercs has not issued an official statement in light of the fact that the skin has been removed from Call of Duty stores. However, he tweeted “Families are made through adversity,” expressing his appreciation for those who “support me.” Polygon has reached out to Nickmercs for comment and will update the story once he responds.

To update: An Activision representative emailed Polygon the following statement: “Due to recent events, we have removed the “NICKMERCS Operator” pack from the Modern Warfare II and Warzone stores. We are focused on celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community.”