Outcry after Call of Duty maker uses real footage of deadly Seoul crowd crush in new video game

Bereaved families have urged the publisher of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 to remove a clip from the game that shows a figure performing CPR and bodies lying in the street

Bereaved families in South Korea have demanded that the makers of Call of Duty remove harrowing footage of the deadly 2022 Seoul crowd crush from the latest instalment of the video game.

The clips, which are seconds-long, appear in the opening moments of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and are used to represent a scenario of civilian casualties during a fictional North Korean invasion.

One shows a scene of chaos with a figure performing CPR on a victim lying in the street. Another shows rows of bodies laid out in the road, and a victim being carried away on a stretcher.

A total of 158 people were killed in a narrow alley in Seoul’s Itaewon nightlife district during the Halloween weekend in 2022. Two more have since been recognised as victims, having died from trauma caused by the disaster.

“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 bereaved families’ council and a coalition of civic groups said in a joint statement on Wednesday, demanding that the footage be removed.

They said people who had taken part in the rescue or witnessed the crush were still living with trauma, while hateful comments about the victims were spreading online in connection with the game’s premise.

Activision, the game’s publisher, told the Yonhap news agency that “some actual news footage included in the game’s opening cinematic was utilised as an element to convey the fictional story within the work.”

They added, “We had absolutely no intention of mentioning or treating lightly any actual tragic events, including the Itaewon tragedy.”

The Guardian has contacted Activision for comment.

The demand comes as the country marks the fourth anniversary of the crush on Thursday.

Players in South Korea identified the clip after the game’s release, and Korean broadcasters have compared it side by side with footage filmed on the night of the crowd crush.

The Korean Game Users Association called for an apology and for the footage to be replaced.

Modern Warfare 4 follows a South Korean marine private fighting a North Korean invasion through recognisable Korean streets.

The title had already become a political talking point before its release, with conservative politicians urging president Lee Jae Myung – who is pursuing a more conciliatory approach towards North Korea – to play the game to understand what they described as the threat from Pyongyang.

It topped South Korea’s sales chart on Steam, the leading PC gaming platform, within days of its release.