Activision Blizzard removed the co-branded outfits with Nickmercs from the “Modern Warfare II” and “Modern Warfare 2.0” store shelves without warning due to the remarks made by FaZe Clan team live host Nickmercs about Pride Month.
according toForeign mediaAccording to reports, due to Pride Month, a school board in California voted whether to bring Pride Month to the campus, resulting in conflicts and fights between pro-LGBTQ groups and anti-LGBTQ groups.
Nickmercs recently responded to e-sports broadcaster Chris Puckett on Twitter to share the news of the campus LGBQT conflict incident, saying that “the real problem is that they should leave little children alone (They should leave little children alone)”.
They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue.
— FaZe Nickmercs (@NICKMERCS) June 7, 2023
However, this sentence is similar to what the ultra-conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said to an LGBTQ book publisher in 2020, “Leave our children alone”, and was questioned by netizens Nickmercs are hostile to the LGBTQ community and cause controversy.
Although it is impossible to know whether Nickmercs deliberately quoted “Leave our children alone”, he denied being against LGBTQ in the live. He said he did not intend to upset anyone, but would not apologize or delete the tweet: “I did not intend to argue with anyone. This is not an anti-gay tweet, nor is it meant to be.”
After the controversy erupted, CharlieIntel, a website focused on Call of Duty news, was the first to discover that Activision quietly removed the co-branded styling bundle andRelated publicity。
After CharlieIntel posted a tweet, the official Twitter of “Calling Hour” also confirmed that the Nickmercs modeling agent package had been removed from the shelves, and said that “we are busy celebrating gay pride month with our staff and community.” So far, the joint model has only survived in the game for more than a week.
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
It is not yet clear whether the Nickmercs co-branded look will be permanently removed, and Activision’s official statement will be forthcoming.
