Activision to Remove Itaewon Crowd Crush Footage from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Apologises to Victims’ Families

Activision has apologised to the bereaved families of the Itaewon crowd crush victims and confirmed it will remove real footage of the tragedy from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

In a new statement reported by Inven Global, Activision said the footage “will be completely removed” via a game update scheduled to roll out on 12th November.

The statement was issued in Korean, and the quotes come via Inven Global’s AI-assisted, editor-reviewed translation.

As we reported earlier this week, the game’s opening cinematic uses short news clips to depict fictional civilian casualties during a North Korean invasion of South Korea. Those clips have since been found to include archive footage from the 2022 Itaewon disaster, in which around 160 people died. The bereaved families’ association and the Citizens Countermeasure Meeting called for its removal.

“We bow our heads in deep sympathy and apology to the bereaved families and victims who were deeply hurt by this incident, as well as to everyone we have caused concern,” Activision said.

The publisher also said that Modern Warfare 4 “is a work of fiction created to provide realistic immersion”, and it “never intended to evoke or trivialise any tragic event, including the Itaewon crowd crush” by using real news broadcast footage.

The controversy has also reached the South Korean government. During a press briefing, minister of the interior and safety Yun Ho-jung described the footage’s inclusion as “secondary harm”, and said: “I believe appropriate sanctions should be imposed”.

“Using such a tragedy as material for a game, a form of entertainment or business, is something that should be refrained from as a matter of human ethics,” Yun added. He said it was up to the relevant agencies to decide “whether to impose punishment or block it to make general access difficult”.

Activision’s earlier statement to Eurogamer said the opening cinematic “utilises some real world news coverage to establish the game’s fictional narrative”, and was “not intended to reference or trivialise the Itaewon disaster or any other real-world tragedy in any way, shape or form”.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (2026)

Final Fantasy 14’s next expansion, Evercold, will launch on 23rd February 2027, and its second new job is zephyr, a physical ranged DPS that fights with a crossbow and a bird.

Producer and director Naoki Yoshida revealed the job during the opening keynote of the Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival 2026 in Tokyo. Zephyr pairs crossbow shots with support from an avian familiar called Nephele, and joins Bastion, the greatshield-wielding tank revealed as Evercold’s first new job at Fan Festival Berlin earlier this year.

Pre-orders for Evercold and the previously announced Collector’s Box open on Wednesday 4th November at 9am GMT. Anyone who pre-orders gets early access, plus a Wind-Up Köttr minion and Halone’s Earring, which boosts EXP from defeating enemies by 30 percent. The in-game items are delivered as soon as you pre-order, so you can use the earring to level jobs before Evercold arrives.

Image credit: Square Enix

The Collector’s Box is physical goods only. It doesn’t include the game, in-game items or pre-order bonuses. Inside you’ll find an art box featuring an Evercold illustration by Yoshitaka Amano, a figure of the Warrior of Світла as a reaper, an Ethos metal keychain, a Köttr mini plush, and a Tapestry of the Fourth.

The Square Enix Store is also selling a limited Collector’s Bundle that pairs the box with a code for the Digital Collector’s Edition on Windows or Mac. Players on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and Steam can buy the box on its own and pre-order the Digital Collector’s Edition separately. The digital edition adds a Valhallar Odin mount, an Entreat Crystal emote, and a Crystal Skyltborg weapon for Bastion.

Square Enix also used the keynote to reveal a new Fierce raid difficulty, sitting between Normal and Savage; a new trailer for the Evangelion: Ghosts of Desire alliance raid crossover, plus tougher eight-player battles built around some of its bosses; and new Tetsuya Nomura artwork for Beyond the Lifestream, a raid series crossover with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series.

We can also expect Evolved Combat Mode, which Square Enix says highlights each job’s unique identity; Seasons, a new system that changes how item rewards are earned; and expanded character creation with new Character Action Skins. Expanded housing features, PvP updates, and a revamped companion chocobo system will follow from patch 8.1.

Final Fantasy 14 has passed 35 million registered accounts.

You can watch the full keynote on Twitch, and there’s more on the official Evercold site.

Final Fantasy 14 is now available on Switch 2. The port was announced at the end of June.

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Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold