Activision Apologizes Over Itaewon Disaster Footage in Call of Duty, Promises Removal

Three seconds of real tragedy in a fictional war

Activision has apologized for including footage of the October 29, 2022, Itaewon crowd crush in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and promised to remove it completely in an update scheduled for November 12. The announcement follows protests from bereaved families, civic groups and a Korean association representing game users.

The footage, lasting about three seconds, shows emergency responders performing CPR on a person lying in the street. It appears near the beginning of a game depicting a fictional North Korean invasion of South Korea, where it is used to portray civilian casualties. CPR is an emergency procedure involving chest compressions to keep blood circulating when a person's heart has stopped.

Activision issued its apology on October 30, 2026, one week after the game's worldwide release and a day after the fourth anniversary of the disaster. The company said the footage would be removed through an update, leaving November 12 as the next announced date for action.

The families' objection centers on the use of actual rescue scenes as material for an entertainment product. Images of people trying to save lives in Seoul were placed inside an invented war, bringing the real suffering of victims and rescuers into a different story.

What Activision promised

Activision said Modern Warfare 4 was a work of fiction designed to provide a realistic, immersive experience. In its statement, the publisher maintained that it had not intended to evoke the Itaewon disaster or diminish the suffering associated with it.

The company addressed the people affected directly in its apology:

We offer our deepest condolences and sincere apologies to the bereaved families, victims and everyone who has been deeply hurt or distressed by this incident.

Activision promised complete removal of the disputed footage through the November 12 update. Its announcement followed an initial response that explained the footage's narrative purpose without committing to take it out. The later statement added both an apology and a specific date for removal.

How the disaster appeared in the game

Modern Warfare 4 depicts a surprise North Korean attack, fighting in Seoul and a wider war on the Korean Peninsula. The disputed footage appears in an opening cinematic, a movie sequence used to introduce the game's setting and story.

The montage includes a person performing CPR, rows of bodies in a road and a victim being carried away on a stretcher. Monochrome tones and visual noise filters were applied to the images to make them fit the presentation of wartime destruction. Bereaved families nevertheless recognized scenes from Itaewon.

The source description attached to the footage reportedly identified it as a mass casualty crowd crush in South Korea in which at least 153 people had died. That detail matters because it described the event behind the images. Activision has not publicly explained the steps by which the clip was selected, reviewed and approved for the game.

The publisher initially said the actual news footage had been included to convey the fictional narrative. Families objected to that very use: a scene documenting a real disaster had become a way to make an invented conflict feel more convincing.

Families describe the harm of seeing the images again

The bereaved families' council and a coalition of civic groups condemned the footage in a joint statement on October 28. They demanded its removal and described the rescue scenes as desperate attempts by citizens to save one another.

The groups explained their reaction in their statement:

We are appalled that the chaotic and desperate scenes, in which countless citizens performed CPR to save one another, and victims lay on the cold street, were used exactly as they were to create a scene in a game.

Families and civic representatives said the distress extended beyond relatives of those who died. People who witnessed the crush or took part in rescue efforts continue to experience trauma, they said, while hateful online comments belittling victims have added to their pain.

Cho In-young, co-head of the Joint Action for the October 29 Itaewon Disaster, said families intended to gather signatures and formally raise the issue. She said relatives from overseas were visiting South Korea for memorial events when the controversy emerged.

Cho described the use of the footage as a failure to consider both the people watching it and those shown in it:

This happened because they were extremely insensitive to the pain felt by the bereaved families, victims, and citizens upon seeing the actual disaster site, and failed to consider the dignity of the victims.

Game users demand accountability without censorship

The Korean Game Users Association also called for an explanation, an apology and replacement of the footage. Its position brought a group representing players alongside families seeking action from the publisher.

The association said Activision needed to explain how footage of a tragedy unrelated to the game's fictional events had been used and had caused distress. It called for a responsible response through an update replacing the material.

The association also drew a boundary around its demand:

This controversy must not be expanded into demands for censorship or unjustified restrictions on the content of the game itself.

Its position separates two possible responses. Removing the identified disaster footage addresses the specific complaint from families. Restricting the game more broadly would affect access to other content and require a different decision. Activision's announced update addresses the removal request, while the association's call for an explanation concerns how the footage entered the production process.

A minister raises the possibility of sanctions

Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung addressed the controversy at a press briefing on October 29. He described the use of the footage as "secondary harm," meaning further suffering experienced by people already affected by the original disaster.

Yun said using a tragedy involving the loss of beloved family members as material for entertainment or business was a matter of human ethics. He also called for action:

I believe appropriate sanctions should be imposed.

The minister said relevant agencies should decide whether punishment or restrictions on access were appropriate. No specific sanction, access restriction or timetable for such a decision was announced. For players, the concrete change announced so far is Activision's planned removal of the footage.

A week from release to apology

The dispute developed during the week surrounding the disaster's fourth anniversary. The sequence shows how Activision's public response moved from explaining the footage's purpose to promising its removal.

• October 23, 2026: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 was released worldwide.
• October 28: Bereaved families and civic groups condemned the footage and demanded removal. Activision's initial explanation said actual news footage had been used to convey the fictional story.
• October 29: South Korea marked four years since the Itaewon crowd crush. Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung called the use of the footage secondary harm and said sanctions should be considered.
• October 30: Activision apologized and announced that the footage would be completely removed.
• November 12: The update removing the footage is scheduled for release.

The removal date falls 20 days after the game's launch and 13 days after the apology. Families had asked for complete removal; Activision's announcement supplies a deadline for that action rather than confirmation that the change has already taken place.

The real disaster behind the images

The Itaewon crowd crush occurred on October 29, 2022, in a narrow, sloping alley between bars and clubs in Seoul's nightlife district. Large crowds had gathered for the first Halloween celebrations after pandemic restrictions, with many attendees in their 20s and 30s.

The disaster killed 159 people, the death toll cited in accounts of the families' demands and Activision's apology. Another published tally gives 162, without explaining the difference. The footage's reported description used an earlier figure of at least 153.

A crowd crush happens when people become packed so tightly that pressure prevents them from moving or breathing freely. In Itaewon, the concentration of people in the narrow passage and failures in effective crowd control turned the evening into a mass casualty disaster.

The images later placed in the game came from the emergency response to that event. Families' statements focused on what those scenes contained: people lying in the street and others attempting to save them. Their complaint connects the treatment of those images with the continuing grief of relatives and the trauma described by witnesses and rescuers.

What the promised update changes

Activision's apology answers two of the main demands made by families and players: an acknowledgment of the distress caused and a commitment to remove the footage. The November 12 update is the practical step that would take the identified scenes out of the game.

The publisher has continued to defend its intention, saying the footage served a fictional story rather than a reference to Itaewon. Families have focused on the effect of seeing the actual disaster site used in that story. The disagreement therefore concerns both a production choice and the experience of people whose lives remain connected to the images.

The Korean Game Users Association's position gives the controversy a specific focus: replace the footage, explain its use and apologize, while avoiding unjustified restrictions on the rest of the game. The minister's comments introduce a possible regulatory response, but any such action would require a decision by the relevant agencies.

November 12 is now the next announced milestone. The central commitment is straightforward: footage of real people caught in the Itaewon disaster is to be removed from a fictional war in Call of Duty.

Key Points

• Activision apologized on October 30 for using real Itaewon crowd crush footage in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
• The disputed footage lasts about three seconds and appears in an opening sequence depicting civilian casualties during a fictional war.
• Bereaved families, civic groups and the Korean Game Users Association demanded action.
• Activision promised complete removal through an update scheduled for November 12.
• Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung called for consideration of sanctions, with decisions left to relevant agencies.
• The game users association supported removal while warning against broader censorship or unjustified restrictions.