Activision took a similar stance to Fortnite and in 2023 announced that they would work on content based on popular creators from the Call of Duty community. They had a collaboration in the works with one of the most renowned streamers, but Activision canceled it.
You may recall that a few weeks ago, Activision released operator and weapon packs inspired by NICKMERCS and TimTheTatman. However, there was controversy surrounding them, leading to Activision removing their skins from the store.
After all the drama, the Call of Duty community speculated that Activision would distance itself from collaborations with streamers and creators of the series. As they suspected, it has now been revealed that Activision had been planning a collaboration with Call of Duty content creator Kris Lamberson, better known as FaZe Swagg, but it was ultimately scrapped.
The collaboration between Swagg and Call of Duty didn't come to fruition
Swagg is one of the most prominent Call of Duty content creators, with over 2.86 million subscribers on YouTube, and he finally spoke about the discussions he had with Activision to release a weapon blueprint pack.
The pack was never officially revealed; it was discovered through datamining, which identified it by Swagg's logo. This led to speculation about a possible collaboration, and as his fans continued to ask, the streamer finally broke his silence.
According to Swagg, in April, Activision approached him for a collaboration with Call of Duty to create a custom skin or weapon blueprint in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, which he had co-designed with the Activision creatives.
"It meant a lot to me because I've dedicated my entire career to this game [Call of Duty], and being able to appear in the game in some way... was the ultimate joy," said Swagg.
Swagg mentioned that after several meetings and brainstorming sessions, he had the chance to see a prototype of the item, and from that, he estimated that the content shown in the datamine was about 40% completed.
Activision canceled the collaboration with Swagg
During the repeated review process, the drama involving NICKMERCS and ]TimTheTatman occurred, and Swagg feared the worst for the project. In fact, just one day later, he received a call from Activision notifying him about the cancellation of the collaboration.
According to the streamer, Activision explained that they were going in a "different direction" and would abandon this collaboration.
Although Swagg admits that it hurt a lot, he made it clear that he doesn't blame anyone else and doesn't harbor resentment towards those involved in the controversy that prevented his collaboration with Call of Duty from happening.
"But as I said, some things are meant for you, and some things aren't, and that [the collaboration with Call of Duty] was one of those things that just wasn't meant to be," expressed Swagg with resignation and wisdom, although he hasn't given up hope for another opportunity in the future. "I understand it's a business."
What are your thoughts on this situation? Would you have bought Swagg's content for Call of Duty? Let us know in the comments.
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