Activision Removes Itaewon Crowd‑Crush Clip From Call of Duty After Global Outcry
Activision pulls a brief Itaewon crowd‑crush clip from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 after families and fans demand respect, sparking global backlash.
POLICY WIRE — Seoul, South Korea — Activision said it will delete a short segment from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 after relatives of the 2022 Itaewon tragedy urged the company to pull the material.
The game, built around a fictional North Korean invasion of the South, displayed roughly ten seconds of edited footage from the Halloween‑night crush that killed more than 150 people in a narrow alley.
South Korean families and internet users condemned the inclusion, prompting an apology from the publisher and a pledge to remove the clip from all game versions.
The story, first published on Oct 30, 2026 via NBC News World on Africa Front, has been echoed by outlets including the BBC, New York Times, Korea Herald and Japan Today.
The decision follows ongoing sensitivity to the tragedy, which claimed nearly 160 lives and continues to dominate public discussion about respectful representation.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
