New Call of Duty game sparks outrage for including real footage of Seoul crowd crush that killed 158 people

Published: 05:22 EDT, 29 October 2026 | Updated: 05:33 EDT, 29 October 2026 A Call of Duty video game has received backlash after it featured real footage of a deadly crowd crush in South Korea. The clips, which last around three seconds, feature at the start of the latest instalment of the popular game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.The harrowing footage is used to depict a scenario of civilian casualties during a fictional North Korean invasion. One clip shows paramedics performing CPR on a victim who has collapsed on the street. A separate clip shows bodies laid out on the side of the road while another victim is carried away by paramedics on a stretcher. Some 158 people died and hundreds more were injured in a stampede in South Korea's capital Seoul during the Halloween weekend in 2022, four years ago this weekend.It is understood that 100,000 people gathered down the narrow street in Itaewon to attend the city's Halloween Festival, the first time it has been held at this size since Covid, with the crush occurring shortly after 10pm local time.Bereaved families have since demanded for the makers of Call of Duty – which is developed by Activision – to remove the real broadcast footage from the video game. The popular game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has received backlash after it featured real footage of a deadly crowd crush in South Korea A screengrab from the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 game, which is made up of real news broadcast footage showing paramedics performing CPR during the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush'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 families' council and a coalition of civic groups said in a joint statement on Wednesday. They argued that people who witnessed the disaster or helped save victims continue to suffer trauma – and that spiteful online comments about the victims have fuelled their pain. Activision told local news agency Yonhap 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'. 'We had absolutely no intention of mentioning or treating lightly any actual tragic events, including the Itaewon tragedy,' they added.Modern Warfare 4, which was released last week, features a South Korean marine private fighting a North Korean invasion through famous streets in Korea. The lifetime revenue for the series Call of Duty has since surpassed $40billion (£30billion) since its release.The Daily Mail has contacted Activision for comment.According to local emergency responders, many of the victims in the deadly crush in 2022 were women in their 20s, and most were teenagers or in their early twenties. A makeshift morgue was set up in an adjacent building due to the sheer number of fatalities. Visitors walked past a Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 4 placard during the preview night of Paris Games Week 2026 in Paris, on October 21, 2026Officials added it was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul, upon hearing rumours a celebrity was nearby.Dozens of people were given CPR on Itaewon's streets while many others were taken to nearby hospitals.One witness described the height of the crush: 'People were layered on top of others like a tomb. Some were gradually losing their consciousness while some looked dead by that point.'Photographs and videos on social media showed scenes of panic in the aftermath of the crush, and people's desperate efforts to escape from the building tragedy.One particularly distressing video showed dozens of people struggling to breathe and stay on their feet in the crowd as rescue workers attempted to extricate those most in need of medical assistance from the throng.More than 1,700 emergency workers were deployed from across South Korea to respond to one of the deadliest crowd crushes in recent history. More footage overlooking the street showed dozens of emergency responders working desperately to administer CPR to victims lying on the street.The stampede took place around 10.20pm (1pm GMT) and it is believed many of the victims were trampled to death.