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Victims appalled as deadly crush footage included in Call of Duty

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Cite

Collins, R. (2026, October 29). Victims appalled as deadly crush footage included in Call of Duty. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx5ynj718zymo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

BBC News · collected 2026-10-29 · by Riyah Collins

Quick Summary

Families affected by a deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district four years ago are upset because video footage from that tragedy appears in the opening scene of the recently released Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 4. Activision, the game's developer, confirmed using news coverage from the incident but denied intending to reference or trivialize it. The families consider the inclusion "highly inappropriate" and have called for its removal, while Activision has not commented on whether they will make changes to the scene.
Written by AI on 2026-10-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The makers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 are facing widespread condemnation after including footage from the deadly 2022 Seoul crowd crush in their game. The footage shows chaotic scenes with paramedics performing CPR and bodies lying on the street, taken from Itaewon nightlife district during Halloween weekend when a stampede killed 158 people and injured hundreds more. Families of the victims have demanded that Activision remove the clips, calling it "senseless" and a lack of respect for those affected by the tragedy. Activision has stated they used the footage to establish their fictional narrative without intending to reference or trivialize the real-world disaster but did not commit to removing the content.

Written for “Call of Duty Controversy Over Seoul Footage” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Call of Duty Controversy Over Seoul Footage
Entertainment · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBC News
Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 13 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A describes the initial inclusion of footage from the Seoul crush in a Call of Duty game, while Article B discusses Activision's decision to remove the footage after backlash.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
BBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-30 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

BBC News · 4688 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Riyah Collins
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 - Published Video clips showing the aftermath of a deadly crush in Seoul will be removed from the latest Call of Duty game after an angry reaction from victims' families.
🔮 The narrow streets became so tightly packed that people could not move and some were unable to breathe. "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 as it was to create a scene in a game," the bereaved families said.
🔮 "When I was younger, we couldn't afford to go to events like this and hear live music and because it's such a moment, I really want to take it in," she says.
🔮 But there was confusion in the lead-up to the shows, as the venue had said it wouldn't host him for what would have been the biggest show by a western artist since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
🔮 "Somebody once said to me, 'Lola there will be a day when you wake up, you'll be 25 or 26, from a deep sleep, and you'll start to feel the effects of vaping'," the Messy singer said in her post.
🔮 It means her family will have to wait until at least December to hear more evidence, a wait Olivia describes as "extremely overwhelming".
Also by Riyah Collins
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Riyah Collins →

Topics

Activision Call of Duty Itaewon Seoul South Korea

Subjects

Activision ORG · 3× Itaewon GPE · 2× North Korea GPE · 2× Seoul GPE · 2× South Korea GPE · 2× Newsbeat ORG · 1× Tyler Bahl PERSON · 1×

Narrative

"If the game developer has even a minimum of courtesy and empathy towards the victims, it should take corrective action without delay." Activision did not comment on the request to edit the scene to remove the video from that night.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30
🔮 The narrow streets became so tightly packed that people could not move and some were unable to breathe. "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 as it was to create a scene in a game," the bereaved families said.
2026-10-30 · BBC News
Victims appalled as deadly crush footage included in Call of Duty · assertive framing

Claims (13 extracted, 1 hedged)

- Published Families who lost loved ones in a crush caused by overcrowding in Seoul's narrow streets four years ago say they're appalled to see footage of it on the latest Call of Duty game. asserted
they → publish → game
In an opening scene of Modern Warfare 4, video of rescue efforts from the 2022 disaster in Itaewon, South Korea, is used to show the aftermath of an imagined attack from North Korea. asserted
video → open → Korea
Almost 160 people died and their families are calling on the game's makers Activision to delete the footage, saying including it was "senseless". asserted
including → die → it
Activision confirmed it used recordings from that night but had "not intended to reference or trivialise the Itaewon disaster or any other real-world tragedy in any way, shape or form". asserted
it → confirm → way
"In developing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, we approached the subject matter with care and respect," a spokesperson said. asserted
spokesperson → develop → care
"The game's opening cinematic utilises some real world news coverage to establish the game's fictional narrative." asserted
cinematic → open → narrative
Thursday marks the fourth anniversary of the crush, which happened when more than 100,000 people went out in Seoul's nightlife district to celebrate Halloween. asserted
people → mark → Halloween
The narrow streets became so tightly packed that people could not move and some were unable to breathe. "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 as it was to create a scene in a game," the bereaved families said. uncertain
families → become → game
"Using such an event as material for a game made for entertainment is in itself highly inappropriate and senseless," their statement continued. asserted
statement → use → itself
"If the game developer has even a minimum of courtesy and empathy towards the victims, it should take corrective action without delay." Activision did not comment on the request to edit the scene to remove the video from that night. asserted
Activision → have → night
Modern Warfare 4, which was released last week, had already faced criticism for basing the game on North Korea invading South Korea, as the two countries have been technically at war for decades. asserted
countries → release → decades
Fighting stopped in Korean War in 1953, but the two countries never signed a peace treaty and conflict is a very real worry in that part of the world. asserted
conflict → stop → world
At the launch of the game, Call of Duty's chief marketing officer, Tyler Bahl, told Newsbeat: "We have to understand this is entertainment". asserted
this → tell → Newsbeat
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