Call of Duty players were surprised this week when a long-gone Operator skin showed up again in the in-game store. The NICKMERCS Operator bundle, which had been banned since 2023, has been seen by a small group of players but it’s not available to buy.
NICKMERCS, a well-known streamer and Warzone content creator was first introduced as a playable character in Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 back in May 2023. His Operator bundle came with his in-game skin and a few extra items like weapon blueprints. But only a month later, Activision removed the bundle after NICKMERCS made negative comments about the LGBTQ community in Pride Month. The removal happened on June 8, 2023, after his remarks were quickly all over social media.
Since then, the skin has stayed off the shelves — until now.
🚨THEY BROUGHT IT BACK!!!🚨
@CallofDuty brought back the @NICKMERCS bundle?! Does that mean that @Activision is okay with leaving the kids alone now?vid sent to me by a viewer several minutes ago pic.twitter.com/2J4tAqMxIU
— ItsHapa (@ItsHapa) March 24, 2025
On March 23, Call of Duty streamer ItsHapa shared video proof that the NICKMERCS bundle had reappeared in the COD store. This led to speculation across the community. Was Activision secretly bringing the skin back?
Activision quickly shut down the rumors. They confirmed that this was nothing more than a glitch. Not everyone was able to see the skin in the store, and those who even did couldn’t actually buy it. According to Activision, the glitch mainly appeared for hackers or players who had previously purchased the bundle on arrival in 2023 before it was banned. So, for the overall fans, the skin remains unavailable.
NICKMERCS wasn’t the only streamer who faced this situation. His close friend TimTheTatman also had his Operator bundle removed after asking Activision to take it down in support of NICKMERCS.
Interestingly, this glitch appeared just when CoD Warzone is preparing for major changes. With the highly anticipated return of the Verdansk map in Season 3 and rumors about a classic Black Ops Operator returning back, players have plenty to be excited about. For now, though, it looks like the NICKMERCS skin will stay part of Call of Duty history — not the present or future.
