Entertainment · Gaming · 2 hrs ago
Itaewon Disaster Footage in Call of Duty Prompts Removal Demand
Families and civic groups in South Korea want footage removed from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
The game's cinematic includes video from the Itaewon disaster.
The game depicts a surprise North Korean attack on South Korea.
Families said people who witnessed the disaster or helped with rescue efforts still suffer trauma.
They called using the event for entertainment inappropriate and insensitive.
They have asked the game's developer to delete the scene, but no decision or response is reported.
Families of victims of the 2022 Itaewon disaster demanded that footage from the scene be removed from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
The footage appears briefly in a fictional news segment at the start of the game, set during a North Korean attack on South Korea.
The families’ association and a civic group said using the disaster for entertainment was inappropriate and called for corrective action.
Activision said it did not intend to refer to or make light of tragedies, but did not answer whether it would change the footage.
The dispute emerged one day before the disaster’s fourth anniversary.
- Who
- The Itaewon Disaster Families’ Association and a civic action group demanded the removal. Activision published the game.
- What
- Footage from the 2022 Itaewon disaster appears in the game, and families demanded that it be removed.
- When
- The demand was made on October 28, 2026. The game was released on October 23.
- Where
- In a fictional news segment at the start of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, set in South Korea.
- Why
- The families said using real disaster footage for entertainment was inappropriate and could add to victims’ suffering.
Itaewon disaster victims’ families and civic group
Some online commenters
Use of the footage
Itaewon disaster victims’ families and civic group
The footage should be removed because using a real disaster for entertainment is inappropriate.
Some online commenters
Some commenters argued that using real footage is not a problem if the disaster is not being mocked.
Response to the controversy
Itaewon disaster victims’ families and civic group
The families called for the developers to take corrective action.
Some online commenters
Some commenters questioned whether the footage would have been accepted if it showed another country’s tragedy.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 was released.
MBC reported that footage from the Itaewon disaster appeared in the game.
The families’ association and civic action group issued a statement demanding that the footage be removed.
A fourth-anniversary memorial was scheduled at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.
- Game
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
- Release date
- October 23, 2026
- Disaster
- Itaewon disaster, 2022
- Footage location
- Fictional news segment at the start of the game
- Publisher
- Activision
What people are saying
The very use of such an event as material for a game for entertainment purposes is extremely inappropriate and an ignorant act.
We had no intention of referring to or making light of tragic events, including the Itaewon disaster.