Activision to remove footage of Itaewon tragedy from Call of Duty — Korea Herald

US company Activision has apologized for using footage of the 2022 tragedy in Seoul’s Itaewon district in South Korea in the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The company said it would completely remove these fragments through an update scheduled for November 12, Korea Herald reports.

Game update

In a statement sent to South Korean broadcaster MBC, Activision expressed its deepest condolences and sincere apologies to the families of those killed, the victims, and everyone deeply affected or saddened by the event.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

The company stressed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is a work of fiction intended to create a realistic and immersive gaming experience. Activision said the use of real news footage was not intended to evoke any tragedy, including the events in Itaewon, or to downplay the suffering they caused.

Reaction of victims’ families

Outrage arose after footage of the tragedy was discovered in the new installment of the game, whose plot depicts a fictional large-scale war on the Korean Peninsula. The Itaewon crush occurred on October 29, 2022. The families of 159 victims and civic organizations expressed outrage and called for the footage to be removed from the game.