A midseason update for ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’ and ‘Warzone’ has one difference fans are pointing out: the removal of the ‘kay’ hand gesture, which has been deemed racist by politically correct activists on social media.
When I tweeted about this, it was a joke, but you actually removed the “OK” hand gesture from the game? lol pic.twitter.com/Zc9rR8RvOu
Producers behind the games have released no official word on the removal of the symbol from the game, leaving fans only to speculate as to the reason.
Changes have been made to gameplay in the past in ‘Modern Warfare’ in light of Black Lives Matter protests across the globe, including going through a crackdown on the use of racist language and usernames, according to Game Rant.
A message showing solidarity with the protests was also added to the start screen of the game for a time last month.
Call of Duty’s recent update added a Black Lives Matter screen when players load into the game. pic.twitter.com/fO4hMrrtkJ
However, with no official statement about the removal of the ‘okay’ gesture, fans have been left in the dark, taking to social media to express their frustrations.
“Call of Duty is removing the ‘okay’ hand gesture from the game because of another 4Chan troll claiming that the symbol, which is a literal fucking emoji on your phone btw, is racist,” one Twitter user wrote.
Despite mainstream media reports connecting the ‘okay’ sign to white supremacist movements, the gesture has mostly been used to troll others and is believed to have started in the online group 4chan, a notorious troll hub, members of which often share political memes and conspiracy theories, as well as find ways to trick the media.
The idea of the gesture being a legitimate symbol of white supremacism has been debunked multiple times, though the Anti-Defamation League still recognized it last year as a hateful symbol.
Even if the gesture has been permanently banned in the game, players can still openly commit war crimes and murder, which, some argued, would seem a bigger problem if producers were truly concerned about offensive digital acts.
Hi @Activision@CallofDutyRemember that time you had an airport getting shot up in your game?Now you’re removing hand gestures from the game because it might be offensive.Y’all softer than baby shit now
One exception to winnability was in the Call of Duty line was infamous “No Russian” scenario. Unwinnable. Entails participation in mass murder of civilians. No options to fight the murderers. Horrible scenario with an atrocity. https://t.co/FMvTOsDhDzpic.twitter.com/8xb9KyruzI
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