NickMercs Throws EA Under The Bus

Despite being in an oversaturated battle royale market, EA's "Apex Legends" has managed to sustain a respectable amount of popularity since its release in 2019. Even almost three years since launch, "Apex Legends" is still very much worth playing in 2021, with high-stakes tournaments still being prevalent among the game's community. One such tournament, organized by popular streamer NickMercs, is being done in conjunction with "Apex Legends" developer Respawn Entertainment and the game's publisher EA. The tournament will award the winner with a lofty $50,000, making it a must-play for some of the game's most talented players. Unfortunately, one of the game's most prominent personalities, Trainwrecks, will not be allowed to participate.

According to NickMercs during a recent livestream, he did not have anything to do with Trainwrecks' ban, saying it was EA's choice to keep streamer out of the tournament. NickMercs said that the company allegedly told his manager that "they don't want [Trainwrecks] involved. Point blank, period." 

NickMercs explained that EA doesn't look too kindly on Trainwrecks' streaming of gambling content, which has proven to be one of Twitch's most controversial categories. Not long after Nick explained the situation to his audience, Trainwrecks had more than a few things to say about EA's policies.

Trainwrecks took to Twitter to voice his frustration with EA and the decision to ban him from NickMercs' tournament. "EA just told Nickmercs I can't play in his EA sponsored Apex tournament because of my gambling streams," read one tweet from Niknam. The streamer then went on a profanity-laced tirade, calling out EA for hypocrisy when it comes to gambling. 

Niknam referred to EA as "corrupt shady f***s" before claiming that the publishing company had once gladly paid him $150,000 to play "Apex Legends" on stream for four hours. He also argued that the microtransactions in EA's games — like the "FIFA" series — could be seen as a form of gambling, as well. Trainwrecks considered his ban to be nothing but "virtue signaling" on EA's part.

A number of responses on Twitter seem to defend Trainwrecks' assessment of the situation, with many calling foul on EA for its own shady side. Fellow streamer ConnorEatsPants had a particular biting response on Twitter, saying, "the last thing EA would ever do is want to promote gambling to minors, god forbid if a system like that ever came to [FIFA]." Another Twitch streamer, Krinios, said "EA only hates gambling when they don't profit from it."

EA has yet to put out an official statement in regards to Trainwrecks' ban, but the streamer's ban from the "Apex Legends" tournament has clearly ruffled some feathers.