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The families of people killed in a deadly crowd crush in South Korea are calling on the makers of the latest Call of Duty video game to remove footage it used from the 2022 disaster.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which launched last week, features a fictional storyline depicting a North Korean invasion of South Korea. A montage of archival video early in the game’s campaign features a few seconds’ worth of clips showing people administering CPR and bodies covered by tarps on the streets of Seoul.
Those images were taken from the night of Oct. 29, 2022, when a crowd surge and stampede in an alleyway of the city’s Itaewon neighbourhood left 159 people dead and nearly 200 more injured.
The game featured the clips to represent casualties from the game’s invasion and do not reference the real-life 2022 incident; South Koreans are marking its fourth anniversary Thursday.
A national commission is continuing its investigation into the incident, with a stated mission to “uncover the truth of the tragedy,” recommend actions to ensure accountability and improve safety to prevent future similar disasters.
Modern Warfare 4 is the latest in a long-running series of first-person shooter games that often depict alternate-reality military conflicts in a modern or near-future setting. This instalment’s development was led by U.S.-based studio Infinity Ward and published by Microsoft-owned Activision.
Bodies covered by tarps are seen in archival footage of the 2022 Halloween crowd crush in Seoul, which killed 160 people and injured nearly 200 others, in a video montage for the new video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The clips are used to portray a fictional North Korean invasion of South Korea, and the game does not reference the 2022 incident. (GameClips/YouTube)
“Using such an incident as material for a game intended for entertainment purposes is itself highly inappropriate and a senseless act,” the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association said in a joint statement with other Korean citizens’ associations, according to Korean outlet SBS News.
“The Itaewon tragedy was a tragic disaster that produced hundreds of casualties, and citizens who participated in the rescue efforts or witnessed the event at the time continue to suffer from trauma. If the game developer has even a minimum level of courtesy and empathy toward the victims, they should promptly take corrective measures.”
According to the Korea Times, Activision said in a statement that the footage was solely used to tell their fictional story and that the company “had no intention of referencing or trivializing the Itaewon disaster or any other real-life tragedy” but did not say whether it would alter or remove the footage in a future update to the game.
A person burns incense to pay his respects in an alleyway in Seoul on Oct. 29, 2024, the site of the tragic crowd crush that killed 159 people during Halloween celebrations in Seoul’s popular Itaewon nightlife area in 2022. (Shin Yong-Ju/AFP/Getty Images)
CBC News asked a representative for the game for additional comment but has not received a response.
The growing outcry has not had any apparent effect on the game’s critical and financial success. It’s earned an 85 to 87 average score on the reviews aggregate site Metacritic, depending on the platform or console.
Xbox head Asha Sharma on X called it “one of the most celebrated Call of Duty games in its 24-year history” and noted it helped the franchise reach $40 billion US in “lifetime franchise revenue.”
Individual sales are currently unknown, however, and some games sites reported lower concurrent players compared to previous games’ launch weeks in the long-running series.
A man mourns at the memorial altar for victims in Seoul on Jan. 30, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)
