SEOUL, October 30, 2026 — Activision has apologized for using real footage of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and says it will remove the material in a November 12 update, following objections from bereaved families and civic groups in South Korea.
The footage appeared in the game’s opening cinematic, where archive news images were used to depict civilian casualties during a fictional war on the Korean Peninsula. One brief sequence showed an emergency responder performing CPR on a person lying in the street after the disaster.
In a statement sent to South Korean broadcaster MBC on Friday, Activision said the disputed footage would be removed entirely. The broadcaster had reported its inclusion in the game on October 27.
“The footage will be removed in our update set to be rolled out on Nov. 12,” the publisher said in a notice to local reporters, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Families objected to disaster footage being used as entertainment
The game was released worldwide on October 23. According to South Korean broadcaster SBS, its cinematic included approximately three seconds of archive broadcast footage showing CPR being performed immediately after the Itaewon crush.
The images were placed within a fictional account of casualties caused by war. Their origin prompted objections from families who said footage of the real rescue effort should never have been used for an entertainment product.
The October 29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association and a coalition of civic groups demanded the scene’s removal in a joint statement on October 28.
“Using such an incident as material for a game intended for entertainment purposes is highly inappropriate and a senseless act,” the groups said, according to SBS’s account of their statement.
They said people who witnessed the disaster or helped with rescue efforts continued to suffer from trauma, and urged the publisher to take corrective action out of respect for those affected.
The Korea Game Users Association also called for an explanation, an apology and replacement footage. However, it cautioned against using the controversy to justify censorship or unwarranted restrictions on the game itself.
Activision apologizes as South Korea marks fourth anniversary
Activision said the game was fictional and that its use of real news footage was intended to establish the story. It maintained that it had not intended to evoke the Itaewon disaster or diminish the suffering associated with it.
“We offer our deepest condolences and sincere apologies to the bereaved families, victims and everyone who has been deeply hurt or distressed by this incident,” the company said in a statement reported by The Korea Herald.
The dispute unfolded around the fourth anniversary of the October 29, 2022, disaster, when Halloween crowds became trapped in a narrow alley in Seoul’s Itaewon nightlife district. Yonhap’s report on the controversy put the death toll at 159.
The footage also drew government scrutiny. According to Herald Business, Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung described its use as causing secondary harm to victims and raised the possibility of sanctions.
The Game Rating and Administration Committee subsequently said it had been monitoring the situation but had not discussed specific sanctions such as blocking access to the game, the outlet reported.
Activision’s announcement commits the publisher to removing the footage through an update. As of October 30, that change remains scheduled for November 12.
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