Nick Kolcheff, who goes by "Nickmercs," has risen to fame by playing first-person shooter (FPS) games on the livestreaming platform Twitch, where tens of thousands of viewers watch internet personalities play videogames. Now, his fame may be further on the rise because he has been apparently "cancelled" for expressing an opinion.
When there was a clash between demonstrators outside a school board meeting in Glendale, California, where the board was voting to officially designate June as Pride month, Kolcheff argued children should be left out of these cultural debates. "They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue," he tweeted.
Previously, Activision had offered a set of Nickmercs-themed in-game armor and other virtual cosmetic items purchasable for users’ characters with money via the in-game store — from its two main COD titles, Warzone and Modern Warfare II. Activision has since removed their Nickmercs-themed promotion, causing a backlash against the company as people rally around the internet personality.
"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," Activision said in a June 8 tweet posted through the official Twitter handle for Call of Duty, one of video game series it publishes.
Since then, according to outlets like ComicBook.com, Kolcheff has only "grown in popularity" since Activision removed his promotion.
"They really did try and come for me, man. They tried to chain my a-- up. They wanted me gone. Isn't that crazy? They shot and missed," Kolcheff noted during a recent appearance on Twitch. "That's like rule number one in cancellation. It really is. If you're really going to cancel somebody, you can not attempt and fail.... that just made it so much worse for you. You can't do that! Rule number one is ‘do not miss,’ and you whiffed. Your air-balled. That was the corniest attempt to cancel anybody I have ever seen. For saying ‘leave children alone.’"
ComicBook.com reported the numerous factors that made Kolcheff not only endure but gain popularity from the attempt at cancellation.
"During the incident, Nickmercs searches increased by 100x, and as noted, his viewership has gone up as well, the outlet reported. "Various promotional deals and sponsorships going forward could be trickier, but with a networth estimated to be in the millions -- thanks to his popularity in streaming, his successful YouTube channel, and his involvement in Faze Clan as co-owner -- it's unlikely he will feel the negative effects of all of this too much."
Kolcheff also noted on stream that he is far from alone in his skepticism about modern society’s rapid social changes amid culture wars over trans ideology.
"I feel like a lot of people are in the same boat as me man. We’re just confused. Things are moving super quick in some of these areas and we just want to slow it down and kind of get a better understanding of what the f--- we are doing as a people," he said to his viewers. "The decisions that we’re making. Just slow it down. I think that’s where we’re at."
Bounding Into Comics quoted him suggesting that issues of sexual identity should be discussed at home among family rather than in school.
"I do not feel [anti-LGBT], I just simply feel that I want to be the one, and my wife wants to be the one, to speak with our child about stuff like that," Kolcheff said.
