Nickmercs claims he won’t get Apex Legends Pro League invite over LGBTQ+ stance
Streamer Nickmercs told viewers that he didn’t think he’d be invited to the Apex Legends Pro League over a ‘difference in opinion’. He cited Apex Legends is ‘very pro-gay and pro-trans’. (Kick/Nickmercs/Getty)
Streamer and esports personality Nickmercs doesn’t think he’ll be getting an invite to the Apex Legends Pro League because of a “difference in opinion” over LGBTQ+ issues.
Nick ‘Nickmercs’ Kolcheff gained notoriety after he tweeted that LGBTQ+ people should “leave little children alone” in June last year.
Shortly afterwards, Call of Duty announced it had cut ties with the streamer, who built his following by playing the popular first-person shooter games.
The incident didn’t stop the top streamer from signing a massive one-year deal with live streaming service Kick. But he hinted that his previous remarks might come back to haunt him when it comes to working with the Apex Pro League, the professional esports league for Apex Legends.
Speaking about the Apex Pro League on stream on Wednesday (3 January), Nickmercs told viewers he “didn’t think” he was going to be invited to the league because they had differing opinions on LGBTQ+ issues.
“Put two and two together, Apex is very pro f**king gay, pro trans, pro – look, I’m not ‘anti’, but I’m not at the front of the parade doing the high knees either, you know what I mean?” he said.
“Live and let live, but we clearly have a difference in opinion across the board.
“So if you’re expecting them to give me an invite to their pro league, I’m mean, I’d be so surprised if that ever f**king happened.”
When pressed by one person in the chat about how Nickmercs’ previous comments made it seem like he was against the LGBTQ+ community, the streamer reiterated that he’s “not anti”. But he “draws the line” on certain topics like LGBTQ+ education in schools.
“I think parents should be teaching their kids stuff like that,” he said. “When it’s up to schools and teachers that you might not know? Nah. Nah, I’m good.”
Apex Legends has been impressively diverse for ages, and the battle royale game hasn’t shied away from bringing LGBTQ+ representation into modern multiplayer games.
The game is loud, proud and unapologetically queer. From its very inception, Apex Legends included non-binary hunter Bloodhound and queer fighter Makoa Gibraltar.
In 2022, the game introduced a new legend, Catalyst, a trans woman whose terraforming powers are used to save the dying moon of her dystopian planet.
The inclusion invariably drew backlash from some corners of the internet, but Apex Legends lead writer Ashley Reed expertly clapped back at the haters, saying if gamers don’t like queer representation then “Apex isn’t for you”.
