Activision has confirmed that the opening cinematic of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 includes real news footage, after South Korean bereaved families said a brief clip comes from the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush. They’re demanding it come out. As VGC reports, the shot shows a paramedic giving CPR to someone on the ground, and the disaster killed 159 people and injured 196 in Seoul.
The clip sits inside a montage of fictional news bulletins describing a full-scale North Korean invasion of the South, which is the premise of the Infinity Ward shooter. SBS News puts the footage at about three seconds and says the game uses it to depict civilian casualties from the outbreak of war. South Korean players spotted it first. The game launched worldwide on 23 October on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Switch 2.
Who is asking for what
Timing sharpens the reaction. SBS says the statements came ahead of the fourth anniversary of the disaster, which falls on 29 October. The Itaewon bereaved families’ association, together with a civic coalition supporting them, called the use of such an incident in an entertainment product “highly inappropriate and insensitive”, in SBS’s translation. Their statement adds that rescuers and witnesses still suffer trauma, and that a developer with “a shred of basic courtesy” would act promptly.
The Korea Game Users Association took a narrower line. It wants an explanation and an apology, and asks for an update that replaces the footage, because the clip has no connection to the game’s story. The group also warned that the row shouldn’t turn into a call for censorship or unjustified limits on the game’s content. In other words, the target is one three-second shot, not the game’s depiction of a Korean war.
Activision’s response
In a statement to SBS, Activision acknowledged the footage is real and said some actual news clips in the opening cinematic help convey the fictional narrative. The publisher added that it had no intention to reference or treat lightly any real tragedy, Itaewon included. The Korea Times notes that the statement doesn’t say whether Activision will remove it.
A patch is technically simple for a three-second shot, but nothing in Activision’s statement commits to one. Activision is more often in the news for defending its own Modern Warfare material, as when it moved against AI-made Fallout and MW2 projects. Here, the question is what it does with its own content.
Is the footage confirmed to be from Itaewon?
Activision has confirmed that the opening cinematic contains real news footage. South Korean players, bereaved families and the Korea Game Users Association identify the clip as Itaewon material, and the publisher’s statement refers to the Itaewon disaster in its response.
Will Activision remove it?
Not confirmed. Activision’s statement to SBS defends the intent behind the footage but doesn’t mention an edit or an update. We’ll update this story if that changes.
Where does the footage appear in the game?
It’s in the opening title cinematic, a montage of fictional news broadcasts about the invasion, so players see it as soon as they start the campaign.
