Call of Duty faces calls for boycott after cracking down on streamer over LGBTQ comments

Popular video game franchise "Call of Duty" is facing a prospective boycott after cracking down on a streamer who asserted that the LGBT movement ought to refrain from targeting children.

Streamer Nickmercs last week commented on a video depicting a clash between competing groups in Glendale, Calif., over a school board vote on recognizing pride month.

"This happened 4 blocks from my Overwatch League apartment. Americans are in a sad place right now. Let people love who they love and live your own life," wrote streamer Puckett, to which Nickmercs replied "They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue."

The official Call of Duty Twitter account later confirmed that "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."

Nickmercs was one of two streamers to recently receive their own merchandise bundle in the game. The other, TimTheTatman, asked that the company remove his bundle in solidarity with Nickmercs, a request with which the company complied.

The company's decision to remove the bundle prompted several streamers to urge their followers to uninstall the game and boycott Activision, which makes Call of Duty.

Popular streamer Dr. Disrespect streamed himself uninstalling the game, calling the current iteration of the game, Call of Duty: Modern Warefare II/Warzone 2.0 "the worst in its franchise" and said that the company need to either "apologize publicly to [Nickmercs] or reinstate his bundle in order for me to consider playing Call of Duty again."

The boycott calls appear to have thus far had little effect on either the number of players on the game or the Activision stock price. Steam data shows a negligible impact on the number of users playing concurrently. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II/Warzone 2.0 has witnessed a 4.41% decline in average players over the last 30 days, though there has been no notable drop off in the past week.

Moreover, Activision's stock price has largely remained flat in the past week. The company is embroiled in an ongoing effort by Microsoft to purchase it, though the Federal Trade Commission on Monday filed for a temporary restraining order to halt the deal over concerns the purchase could adversely impact competition in the industry.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.