# Real-world disaster footage in Modern Warfare 4 opening cinematic will be removed following complaints from victims’ families

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/real-world-disaster-footage-in-modern-warfare-4-opening-cinematic-will-be-removed-following-complaints-from-victims-families/
- Published: 2026-10-30T15:20:25+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T00:27:53+00:00
- Original publisher: PC Gamer
- Original article: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/real-world-disaster-footage-in-modern-warfare-4-opening-cinematic-will-be-removed-following-complaints-from-victims-families/
- Topics: Asia, Call of Duty, Entertainment, Gaming, World

## Key points

- Real footage of the Itaewon crowd crush appears in the game’s opening cinematic.
- Victims’ families and civic groups called for the clip to be removed.
- Activision apologised and scheduled its removal for 12 November.

## Summary

Activision says it will remove footage of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush from the opening cinematic of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The brief clip shows rescue workers performing CPR after the disaster in Seoul and appears in a sequence depicting the aftermath of a fictional North Korean invasion. The crowd crush killed 159 people. The footage is due to be removed in a game update scheduled for 12 November.

Bereaved families and civic groups called for its removal, saying the use of scenes from a real tragedy in an entertainment game was inappropriate and distressing for people affected by the disaster. Activision apologised to the families and others hurt by the footage. It said the news material was intended to establish the game’s fictional story and that it had not meant to refer to or diminish the Itaewon disaster.

## Coverage

- [PC Gamer: Real-world disaster footage in Modern Warfare 4 opening cinematic will be removed following complaints from victims’ families](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/real-world-disaster-footage-in-modern-warfare-4-opening-cinematic-will-be-removed-following-complaints-from-victims-families/)
- [The Korea Herald: ‘Call of Duty’ publisher apologizes, says will remove Itaewon crowd crush footage](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10920719)
- [The Korea Herald: Families demand removal of alleged Itaewon disaster footage from Call of Duty](https://m.koreaherald.com/article/10918197?sec=001)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.