Call of Duty has removed the NICKMERCS skin from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone 2 following a controversial tweet. Call of Duty is one of the biggest gaming franchises out there and has consistently had the best-selling game every year for the last decade, with the exceptions of 2013 and 2018 when Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s huge and just recently, the series started to try to highlight some of the content creators who play shooters like Call of Duty: Warzone. In doing so, Call of Duty added skins for both NICKMERCS and TimTheTatman for players to buy. The skins were voiced, came with weapon blueprints and items inspired by the streamers, and generally made a big splash.
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With that said, the NICKMERCS skin has been removed from both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone 2 following a controversial tweet. In response to a video of alleged anti-LGBT protestors reportedly attacking pro-LGBT demonstrators, clashing over a schoolboard vote to recognize June as Pride month, NICKMERCS wrote: “They should leave little children alone, that’s the real issue”. This tweet was viewed as derogatory, and an anti-LGBTQ stance by some and immediately caused backlash. Later, on his own stream, NICKMERCS noted that he didn’t mean to upset anyone, but believes talks about sexuality should be kept between parents and their children. He added he wouldn’t apologize for what he said, insisting it wasn’t an “anti-gay tweet.” Call of Duty however noted they are removing the skin as they are focused on “celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community.”
A number of people in the gaming community have reacted to the news positively, seeing it a stance against bigotry or discrimination.
We’ve reached out to Activision for a statement on whether or not players who already purchased the skin will be able to keep it or get a refund. As of right now, it’s unclear if Activision has any plans to feature other future Call of Duty community members in the game via skins or crossover collaborations.
