Seoul crush scene to be removed from Call of Duty after backlash
Bereaved families say they were appalled to see footage of the Itaewon disaster included in Modern Warfare 4.
Seoul crush footage to be removed from Call of Duty after criticism
Modern Warfare 4 places players in a conflict between North and South Korea
Video clips depicting the aftermath of a fatal crush in Seoul will be taken out of the newest Call of Duty game following an angry response from victims’ families.
Actual news footage from the 2022 disaster, which killed nearly 160 people, was used in the opening scene of Modern Warfare 4 to depict a fictional North Korean invasion.
Bereaved relatives said they were "appalled" to see the material — which showed people being carried away on stretchers, body bags in the street and attempts at resuscitation — reused for the game.
Activision, the company behind Call of Duty, has now said the footage will be removed in the game’s next update.
The crush took place in the narrow alleys of Seoul’s Itaewon district when more than 100,000 people gathered there to celebrate Halloween four years ago.
The streets became so crowded that people were unable to move, and some could not breathe.
In a statement on Thursday, the families of those who died said the disaster "was a tragedy that caused hundreds of casualties, and citizens who took part in the rescue or witnessed it have suffered from trauma until now".
"We cannot help but be appalled that the chaotic and desperate scene, in which many citizens at the site performed CPR to save one another and victims lay on the freezing street, was used to create a scene in a game.
"Using such an event as material for a game made for entertainment is in itself highly inappropriate and senseless."
Activision said it had used real news coverage of the disaster "to establish the game's fictional narrative" but insisted it had "not intended to reference or trivialise the Itaewon disaster or any other real-world tragedy in any way, shape or form".
The move was welcomed by the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association, although the group told the BBC it had not received a direct apology from Activision.
Modern Warfare 4, released last week, had already drawn criticism for centring on North Korea invading South Korea, as the two countries have technically been at war for decades.
Fighting ended in the Korean War in 1953, but the two nations never signed a peace treaty, and the threat of conflict remains very real in that part of the world.
At the game’s launch, Call of Duty chief marketing officer Tyler Bahl told BBC Newsbeat: "We have to understand this is entertainment".