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New Call of Duty game under fire for using footage of deadly 2022 South Korea crowd crush

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Cite

Ore, J. (2026, October 29). New Call of Duty game under fire for using footage of deadly 2022 South Korea crowd crush. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/call-of-duty-south-korea-itaewon-crowd-crush-9.7401059?cmp=rss

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

CBC News · collected 2026-10-29 · by Jonathan Ore

Quick Summary

The latest Call of Duty video game, Modern Warfare 4, has faced criticism for including footage from a deadly crowd crush that occurred in Seoul, South Korea, on October 29, 2022. The game features brief clips showing emergency response scenes and bodies covered by tarps to depict casualties during a fictional North Korean invasion of South Korea. Families of the victims and other Korean citizens' associations have called for Activision, the publisher of the game, to remove this footage, arguing that it is inappropriate and disrespectful to those affected by the tragedy. Activision has stated that they did not intend to reference or trivialize the real-life incident but has not committed to removing the footage from future updates.
Written by AI on 2026-10-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has sparked outrage for using real footage from the deadly 2022 crowd crush in Seoul that killed 158 people. The video game includes seconds-long clips showing paramedics performing CPR and bodies laid out on the street, which are used to depict civilian casualties during a fictional North Korean invasion. Bereaved families and civic groups have demanded Activision remove the footage, arguing it trivializes the tragedy. While Activision has defended its use of the footage as part of the game's narrative, without referencing the actual incident, critics argue that including real disaster scenes is disrespectful to victims' families. The 2022 event occurred during Seoul’s Halloween festival in Itaewon district and involved 100,000 people gathering in a narrow street, leading to a deadly crush four years ago this weekend.

Written for “Call of Duty Game Controversy” on 2026-10-29, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 115223: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-29

Story

📰 Call of Duty Game Controversy
Entertainment · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 10% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
South China Morning Post
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 1 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different issues related to Call of Duty: one criticizes its depiction of North Korean invasion scenarios, and the other addresses criticism about using footage from a crowd crush incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
2 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
60/100
CBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-29 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBC News · 753 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jonathan Ore
4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 According to the Korea Times, Activision said in a statement that the footage was solely used to tell their fictional story and that the company "had no intention of referencing or trivializing the Itaewon disaster or any other real-life tragedy" but did not say whether it would alter or remove the footage in a future update to the game.
🔮 Canada’s video game industry is home to an exceptional depth of talent and creativity, and the contributions of the people who built BioWare will remain an important part of our industry’s story," said Paul Fogolin, president of the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, in a statement.
🔮 That change has come with some growing pains, though; button prompts will appear when you approach an interactable object or item you can pick up, but the symbols and text that appear onscreen are often too small to read very quickly.
🔮 Inside gaming's fastest-growing trend, including the newest hit Big Walk Recent viral games focus on co-operative multiplayer madness instead of sweaty competition It might sound like an insult, but the fastest growing trend in video games today is something called "friendslop."
Also by Jonathan Ore
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Call of Duty Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 North Korean Seoul South Korea

Subjects

Seoul GPE · 6× South Korea GPE · 4× North Korean NORP · 3× Activision ORG · 2× Itaewon GPE · 2× Korean NORP · 2× Call of Duty ORG · 1× Infinity Ward ORG · 1× South Koreans NORP · 1× U.S.-based GPE · 1×

Narrative

Xbox head Asha Sharma on X called it "one of the most celebrated Call of Duty games in its 24-year history" and noted it helped the franchise reach $40 billion US in "lifetime franchise revenue." Individual sales are currently unknown, however, and some games sites reported lower concurrent players compared to previous games' launch weeks in the long-running series. A man mourns at the memorial altar for victims in Seoul on Jan. 30, 2024.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-29
🔮 According to the Korea Times, Activision said in a statement that the footage was solely used to tell their fictional story and that the company "had no intention of referencing or trivializing the Itaewon disaster or any other real-life tragedy" but did not say whether it would alter or remove the footage in a future update to the game.

Claims (20 extracted, 2 hedged)

New Call of Duty game under fire for using footage of deadly 2022 South Korea crowd crush Brief clips of the stampede in a narrow Seoul hallway used to portray a fictional North Korean invasion asserted
clips → use → invasion
The families of people killed in a deadly crowd crush in South Korea are calling on the makers of the latest Call of Duty video game to remove footage it used from the 2022 disaster. asserted
it → kill → disaster
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which launched last week, features a fictional storyline depicting a North Korean invasion of South Korea. asserted
which → launch → Korea
A montage of archival video early in the game's campaign features a few seconds' worth of clips showing people administering CPR and bodies covered by tarps on the streets of Seoul. asserted
montage → feature → Seoul
Those images were taken from the night of Oct. 29, 2022, when a crowd surge and stampede in an alleyway of the city's Itaewon neighbourhood left 159 people dead and nearly 200 more injured. asserted
surge → take → people
The game featured the clips to represent casualties from the game's invasion and do not reference the real-life 2022 incident; South Koreans are marking its fourth anniversary Thursday. asserted
Koreans → feature → anniversary
A national commission is continuing its investigation into the incident, with a stated mission to "uncover the truth of the tragedy," recommend actions to ensure accountability and improve safety to prevent future similar disasters. asserted
commission → continue → disasters
Modern Warfare 4 is the latest in a long-running series of first-person shooter games that often depict alternate-reality military conflicts in a modern or near-future setting. asserted
that → run → setting
This instalment's development was led by U.S.-based studio Infinity Ward and published by Microsoft-owned Activision. asserted
development → lead → Activision
Bodies covered by tarps are seen in archival footage of the 2022 Halloween crowd crush in Seoul, which killed 160 people and injured nearly 200 others, in a video montage for the new video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. asserted
which → cover → Duty
The clips are used to portray a fictional North Korean invasion of South Korea, and the game does not reference the 2022 incident. asserted
game → use → incident
"Using such an incident as material for a game intended for entertainment purposes is itself highly inappropriate and a senseless act," the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association said in a joint statement with other Korean citizens' associations, according to Korean outlet SBS News. uncertain
Association → use → News
"The Itaewon tragedy was a tragic disaster that produced hundreds of casualties, and citizens who participated in the rescue efforts or witnessed the event at the time continue to suffer from trauma. asserted
who → produce → trauma
If the game developer has even a minimum level of courtesy and empathy toward the victims, they should promptly take corrective measures." asserted
they → have → measures
According to the Korea Times, Activision said in a statement that the footage was solely used to tell their fictional story and that the company "had no intention of referencing or trivializing the Itaewon disaster or any other real-life tragedy" but did not say whether it would alter or remove the footage in a future update to the game. uncertain
it → accord → game
A person burns incense to pay his respects in an alleyway in Seoul on Oct. 29, 2024, the site of the tragic crowd crush that killed 159 people during Halloween celebrations in Seoul's popular Itaewon nightlife area in 2022. asserted
that → burn → 2022
CBC News asked a representative for the game for additional comment but has not received a response. asserted
News → ask → response
The growing outcry has not had any apparent effect on the game's critical and financial success. asserted
outcry → grow → success
It's earned an 85 to 87 average score on the reviews aggregate site Metacritic, depending on the platform or console. asserted
It → earn → platform
Xbox head Asha Sharma on X called it "one of the most celebrated Call of Duty games in its 24-year history" and noted it helped the franchise reach $40 billion US in "lifetime franchise revenue." Individual sales are currently unknown, however, and some games sites reported lower concurrent players compared to previous games' launch weeks in the long-running series. A man mourns at the memorial altar for victims in Seoul on Jan. 30, 2024. asserted
man → call → Jan.
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