FaZe Clan is a popular eSports organization, and arguably one of the most well known brands within the gaming space. Co-owned by Nick “NickMercs” Kolcheff, they’ve existed since 2010 and have survived far longer than the vast majority of ventures within the professional gaming space, even past the pandemic that stifled or outright ended many other eSports ventures in the world. It hasn’t been easy: in 2023, FaZe cut 20% of its staff in the interest of “financial discipline,” and merged with Jerry Jones owned Gamingsquare later that year.
With this information in mind, one can assume that FaZe Clan makes decisions on what they view is best for the continued success of the company. That probably seems like a no brainier to mention, but it’s a point worth pointing out when covering the fact that one of its most well known members, Warzone player and co-owner NickMercs, has recently gone out of his way during Pride Month to argue that trans people… don’t exist?
NickMercs full meltdown can be seen here:
“There’s no such thing as trans people… that’s something that you created… so have fun with your little dream land, but that shit is not even real”
NickMercs gives his opinions on Transgenders pic.twitter.com/fW1TouREhk
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) June 11, 2024
“There’s No Such Thing As Trans People”
There’s obviously a lot of easy ways to rebut his claim that trans people exist (Science, Reality, Census Data) or that sex is as simple as looking at binary genitalia (the literal existence of millions of intersex people in the US and around the world does a good job of refuting that point) but that would require thinking that any of NickMercs comments were in good faith. And not, you know, the ramblings of a desperate eSports player who has watched his power decline in his own organization.
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But that’s obviously a pointless endeavor for a man who can’t see beyond his own screen. What’s more interesting here is the position of Gamingsquare, FaZe, and gaming as a whole.
Call of Duty publishers Activision has already pulled the edgy streamer’s skin from the game. Gamingsquare is probably not happy about the loss of big promotional material less than a year after they swooped in to save FaZe, regardless of whether or not they are concerned about the negative publicity NickMercs is bringing their purchase.
One also may wonder how the rest of FaZe’s owners feel here. It is worth remembering that FaZe would probably want you to believe that they don’t share in NickMercs radical, reality-allergic phobia. After all, when FaZe sponsored trans deaf player Ewok in 2020, this was their response:
You are loved. ❤️
— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) October 11, 2020
Something tells me that NickMercs wasn’t responsible for the positive tweet towards Ework. (Or, if he was, then one of these NickMercs is not a reflection of the real man.)
Consequences (Thus Far)
All things considered, FaZe and Gamingsquare’s response to this situation will be telling about what’s going on behind the scenes. The loss of NickMercs allies among FaZe prior to his anti-trans statements, coupled with the backlash and Gamingsquare’s own interests, might result in NickMercs being pushed out of his own company. Or, as is so often the case with corporations, FaZe and Gamingsquare’s support of LGBTQ+ people is only for appearances, and they are merely waiting for this to blow over without consequence.
Out of all of the news surrounding this, though, the most predictable fact is that nothing has happened yet, though, either in his organization or on his twitch channel.
Sources: FaZe Clan, Yahoo, Dexerto, Amnesty
