On-break NICKMERCS blames ‘unfun’ modern games for his struggles to stream again

NICKMERCS has today blamed his struggles to go live on Kick on the state of modern gaming, declaring most games “aren’t tickling my fancy” and suggesting he may be ready to retire from gaming completely.

The Kick streamer, who competed in the Apex Legends professional circuit until quite recently, has been largely absent from livestreaming circles for the last month. While many suspected it could have been related to the widespread backlash he incurred after his comments regarding trans people (which also earned him a Twitch ban), NICKMERCS has instead put the blame squarely on another factor: Gaming.

“Is gaming fun anymore?” the absent streamer put to his fans in his latest video, before admitting he’s been struggling to play anything right now⁠—a hurdle that’s led to him not going live with any broadcast content since back in late July. “There’s just not a lot of games that have been tickling my fancy.”

In the same vlog, NICKMERCS shared a 14-minute video essay on YouTube dedicated to lambasting the rise of microtransactions, with the on-break star then declaring he’s found modern games quite different to past releases.

The creator wouldn’t specifically blame battle passes or microtransactions for his new gaming stance, but instead suggested quality had simply tanked in the last few years. “Elden Ring was phenomenal,” he then conceded, “so it’s possible. Games still come out that are great but they’re just a dim a dozen.”

Beyond Elden Ring, NICKMERCS didn’t really name any new games, though he famously walked away from Apex Legends recently and has barely touched Fortnite and Call of Duty⁠; both games long considered his cornerstone titles.

NICKMERCS also didn’t exactly explain what he is looking for in newer gaming releases beyond describing them as “good” and referencing Elden Ring again.

There’s a good chance NICKMERCS won’t be away from Kick streaming much longer, telling his fans on Aug. 14 that things would be happening “soon, gang.” Exactly what that means date-wise is fairly unclear, however.

Considering how closely CoD is tied to the NICKMERCS brand, the Kick content creator eventually ending his streaming hiatus to play Black Ops 6 wouldn’t be overly surprising; it will be released in late October. At the time of writing though, he’s not suggested that would be enough to bring him back.

When he returns, he has 249,000 fans waiting on Kick today.