Activision has formally apologized for including real footage from the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush disaster in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and confirmed that the material will be completely removed in a game update scheduled for November 12, 2026. The announcement, issued to South Korean media on October 30, follows demands from victims’ families and civic organizations for the publisher to remove the footage from the game’s opening cinematic.
The controversial sequence appears during the game’s introduction, which uses archival news broadcasts to establish a fictional military conflict involving North and South Korea. Approximately three seconds of the cinematic show emergency responders performing CPR on a person lying in the street following the real-life Itaewon disaster.
The footage originated from the October 29, 2022, crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon nightlife district, where 159 people died during Halloween celebrations. Its inclusion in a fictional military scenario prompted criticism from families who argued that using images of an actual tragedy for entertainment was inappropriate and insensitive.
In a statement distributed to South Korean journalists, Activision acknowledged the concerns and confirmed its plans to remove the footage.
“We deeply apologize to the victims and their bereaved families who must have suffered, as well as to everyone who we have caused concern,” Activision said.
The publisher also confirmed that the footage would be removed through its November 12 update.
Activision explained that Modern Warfare 4 is a fictional production intended to deliver an immersive experience. The company maintained that its use of authentic news footage was never intended to reference the Itaewon disaster specifically or minimize the suffering associated with the tragedy.
The apology follows demands from families of the Itaewon disaster victims after the footage was identified in the game.
On October 28, the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association and supporting civic groups publicly called for the material’s removal. They criticized the decision to incorporate footage of emergency medical treatment from a real mass-casualty incident into a commercial video game.
Modern Warfare 4 launched on October 23, with the disputed footage appearing in its opening cinematic. The brief sequence was presented alongside other news-style imagery to establish the consequences of the fictional conflict depicted in the game’s campaign.
Activision’s October 30 statement establishes a specific removal date following the initial controversy. However, the company has not detailed whether the November 12 update will replace the affected footage with alternative imagery or simply remove the sequence.
For players, the confirmed change concerns the opening cinematic rather than a separately announced adjustment to gameplay or multiplayer content. The removal is scheduled for November 12, although Activision has not specified an exact deployment time.
