Call of Duty removes real footage of Korean disaster from game

Activision has decided to remove footage from the game Call of Duty that depicted a real-life tragedy in Itaewon, South Korea, where 160 people died in a crowd crush during a Halloween event in 2022. The footage was intended to set the atmosphere for Modern Warfare 4, which features a North Korean invasion. Following backlash from the victims' families, Activision announced it would remove the images in an upcoming update on November 12, emphasizing that it never intended to trivialize the incident. The company has apologized to the affected families, although a victims' group stated they had not yet been contacted. Additionally, there is broader criticism in South Korea regarding the game's portrayal of a fictional war with North Korea amid tense relations.