Activision angered Koreans by using footage of the Itaewon tragedy in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Relatives of the victims and civic organizations are demanding the removal of real footage of the 2022 crowd crush from the game.

The shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 found itself at the center of a scandal in South Korea after players discovered footage of a real tragedy in Seoul’s Itaewon district from October 2022 in the game’s opening cinematic cutscene. The clip lasts approximately three seconds and shows first responders performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a victim.

In the game, this footage is used to depict civilian casualties in a fictional war triggered by a North Korean invasion of South Korea. Following the discovery of the video, social media users began criticizing the developers for using real-life tragedy materials in an entertainment product.

On October 28, on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the disaster, the Council of Bereaved Families of the October 29 Tragedy and a civic coordination committee issued a joint statement. They called the use of the recording highly inappropriate and demanded that the real footage be removed from the game. Representatives of the organizations also emphasized that survivors of the tragedy, emergency responders, and eyewitnesses are still experiencing psychological consequences of the disaster.

The Korea Game Users Association joined the criticism. It demanded that Activision explain how the footage came to appear in the game and issue an apology to the victims and the families of the deceased. The organization also urged the company to replace the controversial clip via an update.

In response, Activision stated that several segments of real news reports were incorporated into the opening cinematic cutscene to convey the fictional narrative. The company emphasized that it treated the game’s themes with sensitivity throughout the development process and had “not the slightest intention” of referencing or trivializing the Itaewon tragedy.