Activision has removed the virtual Skin of popular streamer Nickmercs from Call of Duty after he tweeted about a Pride incident that was interpreted as anti-LGBTQ+. Nickmercs is a celebrity streamer with 15 million followers who got his own skin in Warzone’s Season 3.5 launch on June 1. The tweet was directed at esports commentator Chris Puckett, who was commenting on a brawl between pro-LGBTQ+ and anti-LGBTQ+ activists over a Pride Month controversy at a California school board hearing. Dr. Disrespect, another popular streamer, said he would uninstall Call of Duty in response to Activision removing the skin. Nickmercs said in a livestream that his tweet “wasn’t an anti-gay tweet.” He said he didn’t think it was a “thing for teachers to talk about” and that he and his wife “want to be the ones to talk to our kid about things like that.”

Nickmercs is one of gaming’s most recognizable streaming personalities, known for his loud and funny streams where he shows amazing skill at the game. He has played Warzone on stream for over 2,500 hours and has recorded 108,000 hours of viewership for the title. His stream peaked at 371,000 concurrent viewers during a 2022 new map reveal stream, the most ever for the franchise. He also won the first-ever Warzone 2 match during Activision’s reveal.

The removal of the skin has sparked comments both in favor and against the decision. Activision has said it is focused on celebrating Pride with its employees and community. The removal of the skin for one streamer is not a light matter, as Nickmercs and TimTheTatMan were the only ones given skins so far.

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