CoD: Modern Warfare 4 in turmoil over massacre images

Last Friday, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, the latest installment in Activision's famous shooter series, hit the market. The game is set in the contemporary world and depicts a crisis that starts in the Korean peninsula and then expands to the rest of the world, escalating into a global conflict. In recent hours, Infinity Ward's work has been harshly criticized in South Korea.

What is the Halloween tragedy doing in Call of Duty?

Exactly four years ago, on October 29, 2022, 159 people were tragically killed and another 196 injured while in the Itaewon district of Seoul, due to the excessive crowd that formed during the Halloween festivities. Well, according to the Korean portal SBS, images related to the massacre were incredibly included in Modern Warfare 4.

The incriminating content is a three-second clip from the opening cinematic, which is intended to represent the consequences of the fictional war, but instead depicts one of the Itaewon victims receiving CPR. The scene certainly did not go unnoticed in South Korea: victims' families, civic associations, and gamers have lashed out against what is being called a very inappropriate and insensitive initiative.

Naturally, Activision has been asked to make the necessary changes as soon as possible; otherwise, the controversy could have repercussions such as a request for censorship. For its part, Activision has confirmed that it integrated real scenes from news reports into the opening video, without intending to diminish any real tragedy.