Activision Pulls Itaewon Disaster Footage From Call of Duty

Activision said Friday it is removing roughly 10 seconds of footage depicting a real 2022 crowd crush in Seoul from its newly released "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4," following an outcry from victims' families in South Korea, according to NBC News.

The California-based publisher said the change will arrive through a game update scheduled for Nov. 12.

What footage is Activision removing from Call of Duty?

"Modern Warfare 4" is set during a fictional North Korean invasion of the South. The game used heavily edited news footage of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush to depict what the aftermath of an attack on Seoul might look like, NBC News reported. The sequence does not name Itaewon or refer to the disaster directly, but the real-world footage was recognizable to South Korean players and the families of those killed.

What happened in Itaewon in 2022?

On Oct. 29, 2022, a crowd of tens of thousands of Halloween partygoers surged beyond control in a narrow alley in Seoul's Itaewon nightlife district, killing nearly 160 people, according to NBC News. "Modern Warfare 4" launched globally last week, days before the disaster's fourth anniversary. Nearly two dozen officials have faced scrutiny over the government's failure to prevent the crush, the outlet reported.

Timeline

• Oct. 29, 2022: Crowd crush in Itaewon kills nearly 160 people.
• Week of Oct. 20, 2026: "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4" is released globally, days before the disaster's anniversary.
• Oct. 29, 2026: Fourth anniversary of the Itaewon disaster.
• Oct. 30, 2026: Activision apologizes and announces removal of the footage.
• Nov. 12, 2026: Scheduled game update to delete the footage.

What are victims' families saying?

The Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association and the Itaewon Disaster Citizens' Countermeasures Committee issued a joint statement Friday demanding the footage's removal, saying the game had reproduced actual scenes of people performing CPR "while victims lay on the cold streets amid chaos and desperation," according to NBC News.

"If the game developer has even the slightest sense of respect and empathy for the victims of the Itaewon disaster, it should promptly take corrective action."

How did Activision respond?

Activision apologized and said it never intended to invoke the Itaewon tragedy specifically. "This game is a fictional work created to provide a realistic and immersive experience," the company said, according to South Korean broadcaster MBC, as cited by NBC News. "In using actual news footage in the game, we never intended to evoke any tragic incident, including the Itaewon disaster, or to trivialize the suffering associated with such tragedies."

What happens next?

• The Nov. 12 update removes the footage entirely from "Modern Warfare 4," per Activision's statement to NBC News.
• Bereaved-family groups have not said whether they consider the removal sufficient or whether further demands, such as a direct apology naming Itaewon, will follow.
• South Korean authorities' review of nearly two dozen officials over the original disaster response remains separate from the gaming controversy and continues to draw public attention as the anniversary passes.
• Activision has not said whether other regional versions of the game will see the update on the same Nov. 12 timeline.