Call of Duty Seoul Footage Removal

Trending in the US since Oct 30, 6:20 PM EDT · about 500+ searches · covered by 3 news outlets

The background

LONDON, Oct. 30 — The new war shooter, Modern Warfare 4, opens with a fictional North Korean invasion of South Korea. Some of its opening material included about 10 seconds of heavily edited news footage from the Halloween 2022 crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district, which killed nearly 160 people. Families of victims criticized the use of scenes showing people performing CPR and victims lying on the street, and they called using such an event in a game inappropriate.

Activision apologized and said the footage would be fully removed in an update due Nov. 12. The company said it had never meant to trivialize the disaster. The victims' families welcomed the decision but said no direct apology had reached them. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Thursday that his government would uncover the truth about the disaster, and an investigation is still underway.

What happens next

The footage is set to be removed in a game update scheduled for release on Nov. 12.

Key facts

• Activision said Friday it would remove the footage from Modern Warfare 4.
• The footage showed the aftermath of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush in Seoul.
• The crush killed nearly 160 people.
• The removal is scheduled for a game update on Nov. 12.
• The bereaved families welcomed the decision but say they have not received a direct apology from Activision.

What we don't know yet

It is not yet clear whether the Nov. 12 update will include any further changes to the game beyond removing the footage.

Updated Oct 30, 6:48 PM EDT.