The latest Call of Duty game has sparked backlash over footage from South Korea’s deadly 2022 Halloween crowd crush and a fictional war scenario that a local civic group has condemned as “American psychological warfare.”
Modern Warfare 4, released by Activision on October 23, introduces its campaign, centered around a fictional North Korean invasion, using seconds-long clips from the infamous Itaewon disaster.
The October 29, 2022 incident left more than 150 people dead after Halloween crowds became trapped in a narrow alley in Seoul’s nightlife district.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is facing backlash from Koreans for allegedly using footage from the actual Itaewon crowd crush, which claimed 159 lives, in the game. They reportedly included footage of people performing CPR at the actual disaster site and recreated a similar scene in the game. Koreans are now calling for the footage to be removed and I wonder if the developers are going to do anything about it because this is absolutely insane. It has only been four years since that tragedy happened, and now people are seeing something so closely resembling that horrific incident in a video game. This is deeply insensitive to the victims, their families and everyone who was affected by the tragedy.
Relatives of the victims responded to the game release, which came just days before the fourth-year anniversary of the tragic event, by demanding the scenes be removed from cinematics.
In a joint statement, bereaved families and civic groups condemned the inclusion as “highly inappropriate and insensitive,” stressing that witnesses and people involved in rescue efforts continue to suffer trauma.
“If there is even a minimal sense of respect and empathy for the victims, the game developer must take corrective action immediately,” they said.
The Korea Game Users Association also demanded an explanation, apology, and replacement footage, while opposing censorship or unjustified restrictions on games.
Modern Warfare 4’s depiction of another Korean war has also drawn criticism, even before its release. Former Culture Minister Kim Sung-jae slammed the game for turning Korean society’s war trauma into entertainment.
Civic group Candlelight Action also accused it of amplifying hostility toward North Korea and called it “American psychological warfare.”
Earlier this month, President Lee Jae-myung separately condemned Ukrainian remarks suggesting an imminent clash between the two Koreas, saying they amounted to encouraging war on the peninsula.
Responding to the footage controversy, Activision told South Korean media that the archival scenes were intended to convey a fictional narrative. It denied intending to trivialize the Itaewon disaster. At the same time, the company has made no commitment to removing the footage.
However, this isn’t the first time the Modern Warfare series has sparked controversy over its in-game campaigns. Its 2009 installment, Modern Warfare 2, placed players undercover among terrorists attacking a Moscow airport. The “No Russian” mission allowed them to join in shooting unarmed civilians, provoking outrage and prompting its removal from the Russian release.
The 2019 reboot also drew accusations of anti-Russian propaganda over its “Highway of Death” storyline. It blamed Russians for an attack resembling the real-life US-led bombardment of retreating Iraqi columns in 1991 – effectively re-attributing an US war crime. Both Russian players and Western gaming publications alike criticized the sequence, while Russian streamers withdrew from promotional events.
In 2023, major Russian retailers also said they would withhold Modern Warfare III pending review over concerns that violence against Russian characters could violate local laws.
In December 2025, State Duma deputy Mikhail Delyagin similarly sought a regulatory examination of the series following complaints about its portrayal of Russia and repeated missions against Russian soldiers.
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