In the wake of Activision removing streamer Nickmercs’ Call of Duty Operator skin after his negative comments about the LGBTQ community, at least some other high profile content creators are weighing in. One of them is a longtime Call of Duty player, Dr Disrespect, who made a big show of uninstalling the game on stream and said he would not “consider” playing Call of Duty again unless Activision “publicly apologizes to [Nickmercs] or reinstates his bundle.”
Previously, Dr Disrespect called the action “pathetic,” and later further expanded on his comments that this was a bad PR move on Call of Duty’s part:
“That’s a tough one. For what again?” he said. “So, what I gotta do, what we gotta do, is uninstall the game number one. Don’t be mistaken, this year’s Call of Duty is the worst in its franchise, but that decision by CoD’s PR marketing team, I’ll tell you right now, that’s a tough one to digest.”
This all happened yesterday as debate raged over Nickmercs’ comments, which were on a post showing anti-LGBTQ protestors attacking pro-LGBTQ supporters during Pride.
Nick followed this up by framing it as a “parents’ choice” issue about gender education in schools, a frequent Republican talking point, and his PR said a larger statement would be forthcoming elaborating on the issue. Instead he issued a tweet mainly just thanking his supporters for standing by him.
Dr Disrespect is probably the highest profile creator making the most declarative statement in support of Nick. While announcing his plan to quit Call of Duty in lieu of an apology, he also said:
“That’s one thing. I’ll talk awards, we’ll talk sports. These are the topics we’ll talk about, but one thing we won’t talk about is politics. These people online, they’re extreme one way and the other way. We don’t have time. We’re here to put on a show.”
This is a common fallacy, as backing Nick in this situation is a political statement itself. Saying nothing as a big creator is also its own form of speech.
This is far from the first time Doc has threatened to quit or uninstall Call of Duty, which he’s done many times before circling back to it. He is currently developing a rival shooter, DEADROP, an extraction-based game with blockchain elements including NFTs initially sold to access early versions.
Dr Disrespect also was infamously, temporarily banned from Twitch in 2019 for streaming inside a bathroom at E3, after which his badge was also revoked. The act was also likely in violation of California Invasion of Privacy laws. His account was later reinstated but he was later permanently banned from Twitch in 2020 for reasons that were never disclosed.
As for his demands, there is little doubt that Activision will not issue a public apology to Nickmercs, and it would be surprising if they ever reversed course on the sale of his Operator skin. I suppose it could be brought back in the future under some sort of claim it was a “temporary suspension,” but who knows. I also do wonder what a contract for a likeness skin between a publisher and creator might look like. There is likely a relevant clause in there, in case of, you know, a situation exactly like this.
We’ll see if any further action is taken, or if Doc, Nick or any other streamers continue this saga. Nick is not personally banned from Call of Duty or anything like that, though I suppose he won’t be playing with Doc any time soon after the supposed “uninstall.” For as long as that lasts… I’ve asked if Doc has any additional comment past what’s already been said, and will update if I hear back.
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