Activision Cancels Gamer After Tweet Against Gender Ideology In Classrooms

Activision has removed gamer Nickmercs’ operator bundle, a purchasable in-game package for customizing parts of the game, from Call of Duty Modern Warfare II and Warzone after comments he made about protecting children on a tweet about protests in front of a Glendale California school board meeting Tuesday.

Video journalist Brennan Murphy posted a video of the recent confrontation between parents and LGBTQ protesters, to which Nickmercs responded, “They should leave little children alone.” This interaction appears to have resulted in Nickmercs’ bundle being removed, according to a tweet from Call of Duty.

This comment sparked controversy in the gamer world and resulted in Nickmercs responding in a video on Twitch titled “leave it to the parents.” He talks about being a parent in the video, saying, “we want to be the ones to talk to our kids about things like that, I’m trying to keep it really simple.”

Originally the bundle was discreetly removed on Thursday, according to Dot Esports, but then Call of Duty publicly tweeted about it. Call of Duty’s Twitter account defended the decision to remove Nickmercs’ bundle, saying, “We are focused on celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community.” The move comes during a contentious Pride month, with protests erupting all over the country against the inclusion of LGBTQ curriculum in schools.

Murphy screenshotted Nickmercs’ tweet and tagged FaZe Clan, a professional esports organization that Nickmercs is a part of, calling his comments “hate speech” and asking them if they condoned it.

Some gamer news outlets criticized the Tweet with one outlet, thegamer.com calling the comments “homophobic.”

Others have sided with Nickmercs. One Twitch streamer commented, “Parents have every right to decide what beliefs/ideas are pushed onto their OWN children.” Another commenter said, “With you Nick. It all hits different as a Dad.”

FaZe Clan, Nickmercs and Activision did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.