Activision apologizes and says it will remove South Korean crush footage

Activision has apologised to those offended by its use of footage from a real-life tragedy in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and pledges to remove it.

The game, which mainly focuses on conflict between North Korea and South Korea, has an opening title sequence featuring a montage of news reports discussing the game’s fictional outbreak of a full-scale North Korean invasion into the South Korean mainland.

The newsreader’s voiceovers are accompanied by archival clips taken from actual news reports, including a brief shot of a paramedic giving CPR to someone lying on the floor.

Players identified this shot as news footage from the aftermath of the 2022 Halloween crowd crush tragedy in Itaewon, Seoul, in which a crowd surge in a narrow alleyway during a heavily populated street party led to 159 deaths and 196 injuries.

This led to statements from the October 29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association and the Korea Game Users Association, who both called on Activision to remove the footage.

Now South Korean publication Inven reports that Activision has apologised for the use of the footage, and says it will be removed from the game as part of its next update, which is scheduled for November 12.

In a statement distributed to South Korean media, Activision said (as translated by Inven): “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is a work of fiction created to provide realistic immersion. We make it clear that in using actual news broadcast footage within the game, we never intended to evoke or trivialize any tragic event, including the Itaewon crowd crush.”

“The video footage in question will be completely removed through a game update scheduled for distribution on November 12. We bow our heads in deep sympathy and apology to the bereaved families and victims who were deeply hurt by this incident, as well as to everyone we have caused concern.”

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