Yahoo Sports Call of Duty removes Nickmercs skin over controversial LGBTQ+ comment
Call of Duty has removed a branded skin bundle after the streamer the skins were based on made a controversial comment that was widely seen as anti-LGBTQ+.
Nicholas 'Nickmercs' Kolcheff is a Twitch streamer with almost 7 million subscribers on the platform, and over 2.5 million subscribers on Instagram, and is one of the founders of the FaZe Clan professional esports organisation.
Last week, anti-LGBTQ+ protestors attacked pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrators outside a school in California, as it was holding a board debate about recognising Pride month in June at the school.
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In response to a tweet about the attack from esports broadcaster Chris Puckett, who wrote "Let people love who they love and live your own life", Kolcheff wrote: "They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue."
Kolcheff was called out for repeating what many felt was queerphobic rhetoric, and the comment caught the attention of publisher Activision.
"Due to recent events, we have removed the 'NICKMERCS Operator' bundle from the Modern Warfare II and Warzone store," a tweet from the official Call of Duty Twitter account reads. "We are focused on celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community."
Due to recent events, we have removed the “NICKMERCS Operator” bundle from the Modern Warfare II and Warzone store. We are focused on celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community.
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) June 9, 2023
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On a stream afterwards, he said that he "didn't mean to upset anybody" but added that "I'm not apologising about the tweet, I don't feel like it's wrong," and said that he wouldn't delete it. The tweet is still up, and he followed it up by tweeting: "Ain’t no hate in this heart."
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is out now PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC, while Warzone 2.0 is available as a separate free-to-play mode.
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