Activision apologizes for using Itaewon tragedy footage in Call of Duty

Activision has issued a formal apology and announced it will remove real-world news footage of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The controversy arose after players and bereaved families identified archival clips of the deadly Seoul tragedy within the game’s opening cinematic, which depicts a fictional North Korean invasion of South Korea.

The footage, which included scenes of emergency responders performing CPR on victims, was used to provide realistic immersion for the game’s narrative. However, the Association of Families of Victims of the October 29 Itaewon Disaster and the Korea Game Users Association condemned the use of such traumatic real-life events for entertainment purposes.

Activision stated that the inclusion of news broadcast footage was intended to build the fictional story and was never meant to trivialize or evoke the actual tragedy. The company confirmed that the offending video material will be completely removed in a scheduled game update on November 12.