In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (PS4, Xbox One, PC), developer Infinity Ward will remove a line of dialogue and part of the storyline before the launch on October 25, 2019. A reference to the rape of a young girl was apparently too disturbing. The storyline will not be in the release version.
This is the situation: Currently, Infinity Ward is already showing a “demo version” of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to YouTubers and journalists around the world. They did this before the reveal and are doing it again on the sidelines of E3 2019.
What is being shown is described as disturbing. It is the intention of Infinity Ward to depict a realistic picture of war with all its horrors.
In this demo, there are two “scenarios” on display. In one, the player takes on the role of the girl Farrah, who experiences a traumatic ordeal.
Soldiers kill her family and put Farrah herself in danger. Players will later control Farrah as an adult in the campaign.
“He likes young girls”
Infinity Ward is already cutting this: In the demo, there is a scene where a Russian soldier grabs a girl from the fictional country “Ursekstan.” He then contemplates aloud whether he should deliver the girl to his superior, who “likes young girls” – “likes the young ones.”
According to the U.S. site Kotaku, the PR team later stated that this line will be removed from the game.
Originally, the line of dialogue was meant to hint at a development in the campaign that would appear in later scenes – but those scenes have also been cut.
While Farrah will suffer in the game, it seems she will not experience sexual violence.
This is what the creatives say: A journalist from the site Kotaku says he specifically asked why this scene is in the game, which also brings sexual violence into the horror of war.
The Creative Director, Minkoff, reportedly said that it is part of the reality of war that people go through such experiences. And they do not want to shy away from addressing that. The story also touches on such themes – but they have many advisors on staff.
When asked more closely whether there are real-life examples of pedophilic violence in connection with child soldiers, it was stated that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare takes place in a fictional world. It is an entertainment product with a fictional story, but based on real backgrounds.
Update June 14, 10:55 AM: The Narrative Director of the game has now contradicted the media report from Kotaku:
