Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff is one of the most popular video game streamers on Twitch. He signed a deal to exclusively stream his gaming on the Amazon-owned platform. Kolcheff has 28,000 subscribers, and many of them want him to stop playing Apex Legends in favor of streaming the Blizzard Entertainment-owned Activision game Call of Duty: Warzone.
So why hasn’t he?
On Nov. 26, Kolcheff, who plays under the name Nickmercs, began his game stream by discussing why he hasn’t switched from streaming Apex Legends to Call of Duty: Warzone. “Been streaming for 10 years man, and I’ve never streamed a game because a viewer in my chat said ‘stream that game,’” Kolcheff said to his subscribers. “Understanding the view count ain’t 40, 50,000, that’s OK, bro. That’s OK with me. I’m fine. We’re chill. For me, it’s not about that. It’s about me having fun and grinding and getting after that.”
Activision’s Call of Duty: Warzone competes with Apex Legends for top Twitch stream
Both Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone games regularly compete for Twitch’s top spot. Kolcheff chose to play Apex Legends for 20 consecutive streams. It’s an interesting choice because historically, Activision’s Call of Duty: Warzone has attracted more viewers to Kolcheff’s stream than Apex Legends ever has done.
According to TwitchTracker, Call of Duty: Warzone draws an average of 44,000 viewers and 371,232 concurrent viewers to the 31-year-old Nickmercs’ stream. By comparison, Apex Legends brought the Nickmercs stream an average of 32,000 viewers and peaked at 79,589 concurrent viewers.
“If that pushes people away, then that pushes people away,” Kolcheff has said. “I’m so OK with that, and I was [OK with it] a long time ago. I’ve had a lot of times in my career where I didn’t play the game that was the most popular or the game that got me the most viewers.”
Blizzard Activision games are popular on the streaming platform
The gamer isn’t afraid to make bold moves on his Twitch stream. “I’ve also made big changes where I’ve left a game that I was doing great on,” Kolcheff has said. That’s likely a reference to his Fortnite days, which is the game that first brought him some popularity on the streaming platform. But he hasn’t returned to that game in months. “It’s part of life,” he said. “Change is a part of life.”
Call of Duty: Warzone is a multiplayer video game that was released in March 2020 by publisher Activision. Call of Duty: Warzone permits online multiplayer combat for up to 150 players, although a few limited-time game modes support up to 200 players. Battle Royale and Plunder are the games’ two main modes. Call of Duty: Warzone also introduced a new in-game currency system that gamers can use at “Buy Stations” in and around the map. In April 2021, Activision confirmed on Twitter that Call of Duty: Warzone had surpassed 100 million active players.
