Call of Duty maker slammed for using footage of real-life crowd disaster in game - The Independent

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Bereaved families in South Korea have demanded that the makers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 remove real footage of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush from the video game, after players identified scenes from the disaster in its opening sequence.

Released worldwide last week, the first-person shooter opens with a montage of news reports about North Korea invading South Korea.

Among the clips is around three seconds of real broadcast footage showing a paramedic performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a person lying in the street.

Other shots show bodies on the road and a victim being carried away on a stretcher.

South Korean players identified the footage as images from the Itaewon disaster, according to broadcaster SBS.

The crowd crush happened on 29 October 2022, when thousands of people gathered for Halloween celebrations in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul.

Revellers were packed into a narrow, sloping alley near the area’s bars and clubs when a surge of people triggered a crush, leaving many unable to move or breathe.

The disaster killed 158 people, with two further deaths later recognised as resulting from trauma caused by the incident.

The use of the footage in the game has drawn condemnation from bereaved families and civic groups in the run-up to the fourth anniversary of the disaster, with relatives demanding its removal and saying survivors and witnesses continue to suffer from trauma.

“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,” the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Council and the Citizens’ Countermeasures Meeting for the Itaewon Disaster said in a joint statement.

The groups said people who had witnessed the disaster or taken part in rescue efforts continued to suffer from trauma.

They also warned of further harm to victims and their families, saying that “hateful comments that disparage the Itaewon disaster” were spreading online in connection with the game’s setting.

Cho In Young, co-director of the Joint Action for the October 29 Itaewon Disaster, said the decision to use the footage showed that the makers were “insensitive to the anguish felt by the bereaved families, victims and citizens upon seeing the disaster site as it was, and failed to consider the dignity of the victims”.

“Foreign bereaved families are currently visiting South Korea to participate in the memorial service, and we plan to gather signatures from the bereaved families and raise the issue officially,” she said.

The Korea Game Users Association called on Activision to apologise to the bereaved families, saying: “There must be a clear explanation of the circumstances and an apology regarding the fact that tragic disaster footage unrelated to the game’s progression context was used, causing harm to the bereaved families and others.”

The association urged Activision to replace the footage in an update, but cautioned that “this controversy must not be expanded into demands for censorship or unjustified restrictions on the content of the game itself”.

Activision said in a statement to The Independent: “In developing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, we approached the subject matter with care and respect. The game’s opening cinematic utilises some real world news coverage to establish the game’s fictional narrative. It is not intended to reference or trivialise the Itaewon disaster or any other real-world tragedy in any way, shape or form.”

Before Modern Warfare 4 was released, opposition lawmaker and former justice minister Han Dong Hoon urged President Lee Jae Myung to play it, arguing that its depiction of a North Korean invasion raised questions about South Korea’s military preparedness.

Modern Warfare 4 has performed strongly since its release, topping South Korea’s Steam sales chart four days after launch and overtaking PUBG: Battlegrounds, according to The Chosun Daily.