Activision apologizes and will remove Itaewon crowd crush footage from Modern Warfare 4 on November 12

Activision says real footage from the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush will be cut from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 in the game’s November 12 update.

Modern Warfare 4’s opening title sequence is a montage of news reports about the game’s fictional North Korean invasion of South Korea. Players identified some of the archival clips as real news footage from the aftermath of the October 29, 2022 crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district, which killed 159 people. VGC reports that the October 29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association and the Korea Game Users Association both called for it to be removed.

In a statement to Korean broadcaster MBC, reported by The Korea Herald, Activision said the footage will be “completely removed” through the update scheduled for November 12:

“We offer our deepest condolences and sincere apologies to the bereaved families, victims and everyone who has been deeply hurt or distressed by this incident.”

Activision also said the game is a work of fiction and that using the news footage was not intended to evoke or downplay any tragic event, including Itaewon.

The BBC reports the bereaved families’ association welcomed the decision but said it had not received a direct apology from Activision. As of Kotaku’s report, Activision and Infinity Ward hadn’t put out an English statement.

PPR take: Good that it’s coming out, but it never should have made it into the game in the first place.