Call of Duty to Cut Itaewon Crush Footage From Modern Warfare 4

Activision will remove a segment that uses footage of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The change arrives in an update due on November 12, after families of the victims objected to the material.

The game came out for consoles and PC on October 23. Its campaign is set in a fictional war between North and South Korea. The opening cutscene, the short film that begins the story, uses video from the Itaewon crush to show the aftermath of an imagined North Korean attack. BBC News reported that families of disaster victims said they were appalled that footage of the deadly crush was included.

The crush happened in October 2022 in Itaewon, a district of Seoul. The game's opening scene shows a person performing CPR on a downed figure. Bodies lie on the streets or are carried on stretchers. GameSpot reported the details of the scene and the response that followed.

Two groups, the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association and the Citizens' Countermeasures Meeting, demanded that Activision remove the depiction from the game. Their demand is the reason the company gave for reconsidering the scene, though the company's own statement framed the matter differently.

Activision said its opening cinematic uses real-world news coverage to set up the game's fictional story. It said the scene is not intended to reference or trivialise the Itaewon disaster. The company has nonetheless decided to cut the segment.

For players, the change will come through the update rather than a new version of the game. The update is scheduled for November 12.

Anyone who needs support after a disaster of this kind can reach out to local helplines and community groups.