Exclusive Update: Swagg and Call of Duty Collab Cancelled After Explosive NICKMERCS Controversy!

FaZe Clan's Kris "Swagg" Lamberson recently disclosed that a Call of Duty collaboration he had been working on was canceled due to the fallout from the NICKMERCS controversy. This revelation serves as further evidence that the NICKMERCS Call of Duty drama will have significant repercussions.

In response to the streamer's anti-LGBTQ tweets from early June, Activision decided to remove the NICKMERCS Operator bundle from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. While NICKMERCS argued that his original comment, suggesting that pro-LGBTQ protestors "should leave little children alone," was not meant to be hateful, many objected to his sharing of such sentiment in response to a video depicting violence against pro-LGBTQ demonstrators. Activision itself described these remarks as incompatible with the company's commitment to celebrating Pride Month and promoting inclusivity.

The controversy also halted the publisher's other planned projects with popular Internet personalities, including Swagg. In a recently published YouTube video, the content creator from FaZe Clan revealed that he was approached by the Call of Duty team in spring 2023 for a collaboration. The collaboration would have given him the opportunity to help design a blueprint skin for Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2. As Swagg has been creating Call of Duty content for most of his career, he considered this offer to be very significant. However, due to the aftermath of the NICKMERCS controversy, Activision decided to cancel all planned collaborations, including the one with Swagg.

Swagg mentioned that the Call of Duty team officially scrapped their collaboration in mid-June, approximately a week after NICKMERCS's controversial tweet. At that point, the blueprint was already designed, which made the cancellation even more disappointing for Swagg. He shared the canceled blueprint on Twitter, but it was promptly removed by Activision due to copyright issues. Swagg stated that he doesn't hold any grudges against anyone involved and concluded that his Call of Duty blueprint skin was simply not meant to be.

NICKMERCS's actions have undeniably affected the possibilities of future collaborations between Call of Duty streamers and content creators. However, Activision's decision to indefinitely suspend these efforts was likely influenced by the mixed responses to the controversy. Several prominent streamers came to NICKMERCS's defense, which may have contributed to the company's decision. As an example, Dr Disrespect publicly uninstalled Modern Warfare 2 and called for NICKMERCS to apologize during a live stream. Following suit, TimTheTatman requested that Activision remove his own Operator bundle from the game as a sign of solidarity with his colleague.