Activision plans to remove Itaewon disaster footage from its latest Call of Duty installment.
Activision says a November 12 update will remove Itaewon crowd disaster clips after victims’ families and survivors criticised their use.
Activision will remove real footage of Seoul’s deadly Itaewon crowd disaster from its latest Call of Duty installment. The decision follows criticism from victims’ families and survivors over its use in a fictional war storyline.
The publisher confirmed that a software update scheduled for November 12 would remove the clips. It also apologised for the distress caused by including images of the October 2022 tragedy.
Call of Duty footage draws anger
The clips appeared in the opening sequence of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Its fictional storyline centres on North Korea invading South Korea, with real disaster footage used to portray wartime chaos.
The images showed emergency workers performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, body bags along streets and rescue teams responding to the disaster. Nearly 160 people died in the crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in Seoul’s Itaewon neighbourhood.
Victims’ families questioned why the developers had placed a real tragedy inside an entertainment product. Meanwhile, survivors and witnesses continue to struggle with trauma from the disaster, making the images particularly distressing.
Families welcome removal but criticise apology
A group representing victims’ families welcomed Activision’s decision to remove the footage. However, it criticised the publisher for failing to apologise directly to the families.
Activision said it had included the clips to establish the fictional storyline, not to diminish the tragedy. The company nevertheless apologised for causing distress and expressed sympathy for the victims and their families.
The dispute also comes amid wider criticism of the game’s focus on tensions between North and South Korea. The countries remain technically at war, although the 1953 armistice halted active hostilities.
Activision has maintained that the game tells a fictional story. However, the backlash over the Itaewon clips has prompted the publisher to revise its opening sequence.
