Call of Duty Tried Replicating a Popular Fortnite Feature Which Turned Into an Issue That Haunts Them to This Day

In the live service genre of the video game industry, cosmetics and skins have become the bread and butter of monetization for games and studios. And one way where studios have really innovated in this aspect are collaboration skins with popular content creators. Fortnite made leaps in this area with its Icon Series skins.

In 2023, Activision attempted to replicate this success with Call of Duty by making a skin for popular content creator Nickmercs. This backfired after the streamer was caught in a controversy which led to the removal of the skin. After this TimTheTatman requested the removal of his own skin, and since then Activision has stopped adding content creator skins to CoD games.

Call of Duty is falling flat on its face

It is now 2025 and Activision and Call of Duty are still catching strays from the past incident. On January 17, famed CoD pro player and longtime OpTic Gaming member Scump announced that he is getting his first in-game skin. But the kicker is that it’s not even in CoD but in the newly released extraction shooter Off The Grid.

Ever since the first line of collaboration skins got tied up in controversy, Activision has left the concept entirely. After the Nickmercs situation, other planned creator bundles, such as Swagg’s, were scrapped entirely and the controversy seemingly halted all future collaborations. It’s not like CoD needs more money anyway.

THE KING HAS A NEW THRONE 👑

My first-ever skin is finally out in @playOffTheGrid. Catch me on Monday playing as myself on stream for the first time!

Download the game and get my skin here: pic.twitter.com/FqYWPx0lX5

— OpTic Scump (@scump) January 17, 2025

The fact it’s not cod that did this first is just disgusting😂

Activision need to respect the king and what he brings more smh

— Dubs (@Dubs_LFC) January 17, 2025

This hasn’t stopped fans from calling out how ironic it is that one of CoD’s most well-known public figures got a skin in a different game before CoD. “The fact it’s not cod that did this first is just disgusting,” said one user on X implying that Activision needs to respect Scump’s status in the CoD community and what he brings to the table.

Activision doesn’t even give him the recognition he deserves

Despite retiring from competitive play in 2023, Scump is still one of the most-watched streamers in the Call of Duty community and still has the support of a lot of fans. He still brings in massive traffic to the game’s esports scene with his watch parties which often surpass the official broadcast in terms of viewers. But the lack of acknowledgment from the devs is shocking. Maybe that’s because he speaks the cold hard truth of the game.

The situation speaks volumes about the company’s mismanagement of creator partnerships. In comparison, NiceWigg is a great example of the developers doing a good job of recognition. Wigg started out as an aspiring Apex Legends pro who eventually transitioned to becoming a secondary stream commentator for official ALGS broadcasts.

Scump on CoD being DEAD: “I don’t think Call of Duty has ever been in a WORSE SPOT and it’s honestly depressing”
byu/SpawnUpp inCoDCompetitive

NiceWigg eventually surpassed the official broadcast in popularity and views. Respawn recognized his potential and made him an official part of the ALGS broadcast. And while Apex is currently dying a slow death, one thing the developers got right is the recognition of Wigg’s potential.

Scump himself has been very clear about his dissatisfaction with CoD‘s current state. In a recent stream, he criticized the game’s ongoing issues with cheating and poor updates. While he called the situation “depressing,” we all know it’s from a place of love and wanting to improve. But will it?