• News

Call of Duty removes NICKMERCS operator bundle following LGBTQ+ comment

Warzone streamer NICMERCS has come under fire after making a disparaging comment towards the LGBTQ+ community.

Donovan Erskine

June 9, 2023 7:00 AM

Activision

5

It’s not uncommon for celebrities and public figures to make controversial statements on social media and suffer backlash as a result. This week, one of Call of Duty’s biggest streamers put his foot in his mouth, and is under fire as a result. After making some troubling comments about the LGBTQ+ community, NICKMERCS’ Call of Duty bundle has been pulled from the game.

Earlier this week, a video went viral of anti-LGBTQ+ protestors brawling in the street with pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrators in California after a local school board voted to recognize Pride Month. In response to another community members’ post about the ordeal, NICKMERCS replied “They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue.” The tweet quickly received a lot of attention from those both in and out of the community, and currently sits at 11.5 million impressions.

During a subsequent livestream, NICKMERCS stated that he didn’t intend to upset anyone, but that he also wouldn’t be deleting his tweet because he doesn’t believe it was wrong. As the situation continued to attract more attention, the team behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone made the decision to pull NICKMERCS’ Operator Bundle from the in-game store, explaining their reasoning in a tweet.

The comments from NICKMERCS parrot a longstanding dangerous and false talking point that the LGBTQ+ community is causing harm to children. It’s just the latest drama to hit FaZe, as new signee Grace Van Dien had to endure sexist comments from fans and even members of the organization last month. The NICKMERCS ordeal has caused quite the stir in the gaming community, and we’ll be monitoring the situation for any potential updates.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_