Real images of fatal Seoul crush removed from Modern Warfare 4

2 November 2026

The long-awaited fourth instalment of the hugely popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise was released on October 23rd, 2026. And while the game received largely positive reviews, it also generated some very unexpected criticism, at least for players. It turns out that developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision decided to use real-life images of a 2022 disaster in South Korea as part of the game’s opening scene. This caused a storm in the international esports scene and outside of it, ending with the announced removal of the images from the game and an apology from Activision.

Seoul Halloween crowd crush

Before we dive deeper into the heavy criticism met by the newest Call of Duty title upon its release, we take a quick look at what happened in Seoul back in 2022. On October 29th, to be exact, at approximately 22:20 local time, crowd surge (a type of overcrowding) occurred during Halloween festivities in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. This resulted in a devastating 158 direct deaths and injuries, mostly young adults, plus another four deaths by suicide in the aftermath.

Use in Modern Warfare 4

Modern Warfare 4 does not feature any crowd surges, so you might be wondering why Infinity Ward and Activision decided to use images from the 2022 disaster in the game. That is because the game’s story revolves around a fictional invasion of South Korea by North Korea, and the developers used images from the 2022 Seoul disaster to depict civilian casualties in the game. To be exact, it features a real clip of a paramedic performing CPR while other bodies lay in the street, filmed on the night of the tragedy.

Victims’ statement

The inclusion of the shocking real images in the opening scenes of Modern Warfare 4 has understandably caused upset amongst the survivors of the 2022 Seoul disaster, as well as in wider Korean and international society. Among the 162 victims were also 27 foreign nationals, after all. On Thursday, October 29th, the families of those who died therefore published a joint statement condemning the use of the images in the game.

"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 statement reads, “Using such an event as material for a game made for entertainment is in itself highly inappropriate and senseless.”

Reaction

In reaction to the outcry, Activision issued their own statement, immediately apologizing for the upset they caused. The developer confirmed that real news coverage of the 2022 Seoul disaster was used in order to establish the game’s fictional narrative, but that it had never been the goal to upset or offend anyone in any way.
“It [the used real-life images] is not intended to reference or trivialize the Itaewon disaster or any other real-world tragedy in any way, shape or form”, says Activision.