Activision has apologized to the bereaved families of the Itaewon crowd crush victims and will remove real footage of the tragedy from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 via a game update scheduled for November 12.
In a statement, Activision expressed deep sympathy and apology to the victims and their families, stating, "We bow our heads in deep sympathy and apology to the bereaved families and victims who were deeply hurt by this incident, as well as to everyone we have caused concern."
The controversy arose when the game's opening cinematic, intended to depict fictional civilian casualties during a North Korean invasion of South Korea, was found to include archive news clips from the 2022 Itaewon disaster. Approximately 160 people died in the real-world tragedy.
Activision emphasized that Modern Warfare 4 is a work of fiction designed for realistic immersion and that it "never intended to evoke or trivialize any tragic event, including the Itaewon crowd crush" by using the real news broadcast footage.
The inclusion of the footage also drew criticism from the South Korean government. The minister of the interior and safety, Yun Ho-jung, described the use of the footage as "secondary harm" and suggested that appropriate sanctions should be considered. He added that using such a tragedy for entertainment or business purposes is ethically questionable and that relevant agencies would determine whether to impose punishment or restrict access.
Earlier statements from Activision indicated that the opening cinematic "utilizes some real world news coverage to establish the game's fictional narrative" and was not intended to reference or trivialize any real-world tragedy.