Activision to Cut Itaewon Footage From Modern Warfare 4

Activision will remove real news footage of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 in an update scheduled for 12 November, the publisher said in a statement to South Korean broadcaster MBC on Friday 30 October. It apologised to the victims' families. The footage appears in the game's opening sequence, which shows the aftermath of a fictional North Korean attack on the South.

"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," Activision said, as reported by The Korea Herald. The company said the game is a work of fiction and that it used real news footage to set up its story, but "never intended" to evoke the Itaewon disaster or trivialise the suffering it caused.

What happened

The crowd crush happened on 29 October 2022, when Halloween crowds packed the narrow alleys of Seoul's Itaewon district. The Korea Herald puts the death toll at 159. Modern Warfare 4 launched worldwide on 22 October 2026, a week before the fourth anniversary. NBC News says the game shows about 10 seconds of heavily edited news footage of the disaster, without naming it.

The 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association and a citizens' committee had demanded the footage be removed. In a joint statement they said it was appalling that scenes of people performing CPR "while victims lay on the cold streets" had been reused in a game. The association welcomed the removal but told the BBC it had not received a direct apology from Activision.

What it means for players

Nothing changes until the update arrives. Activision has only said the footage will be "completely removed" through the 12 November update. It hasn't said whether the opening scene will be re-edited or replaced, or how large the patch will be. The update lands six days after Season 1, which starts on 6 November. Our Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 report covers that launch.

The game has faced criticism in South Korea since before launch for its premise, a North Korean invasion of the South. NBC News reports the game was still the top-selling game on Steam in both South Korea and the US as of Friday.

Confirmed and not confirmed

• Confirmed: Activision's apology and its statement that the footage will be fully removed in the update scheduled for 12 November.

• Not confirmed: a release time for the update, its download size, what will replace the footage, and whether Activision will apologise to the families directly.

Modern Warfare 4 costs $69.99 on Steam in the US. If the update causes problems, see our Modern Warfare 4 troubleshooting guide and our install guide, or the Modern Warfare 4 game page for the basics.

In India, the game costs ₹4,999 on Steam; Activision hasn't given a time for the 12 November update in IST or any other time zone.