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Call of Duty players call for racist names to be removed from Modern Warfare

Call of Duty players have called for Infinity Ward and Activision to eradicate racist usernames from Modern Warfare, in light of Black Lives Matter protests in the US.

By Adam Starkey |

First Published June 3, 2020, 12:37

Call of Duty players call for racist names to be removed from Modern Warfare

Many gaming companies have shown solidarity and donated money to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but some within the Call of Duty community are calling for more meaningful action within the games themselves.

After Activision decided to postpone the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Season 4 due to the protests in the US, many players have pointed out the hypocrisy of allowing players to use racist player names in lobbies.

Gamertags with racist language are a common site in Call of Duty (Picture: Infinity Ward).

Since launch, a system in Modern Warfare blocks names which use profanity like swear words, although this doesn’t seem to extend to using the n-word.

This was spotlighted by Twitter account ModernWarzone, calling for Infinity Ward and Activision to implement a system to stop the names from being used.

Let’s get #EndCODracism trending!@Activision we NEED to see a change to the profanity systems in ALL present and future #CallOfDuty games.

After 10+ years of COD, this shouldn’t be something we even have to discuss.

Let’s be the change we want to see.#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/yuE8T8Hlg4
— ModernWarzone (@ModernWarzone) June 3, 2020

A post on Reddit from Chetzke highlighting the name issue titled "Cmon IW, do your part" has also received over 45,000 upvotes, although there’s been no reply from Activision at the time of writing.

In their original delay post for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Season 4, the company wrote: “Right now it’s time for those speaking up for equality, justice and change to be seen and heard.

pic.twitter.com/8uNhuhDGAp
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) June 2, 2020

“We stand alongside you.”

Many game companies have delayed numerous announcements and events to support Black Lives Matter, including Sony’s planned PlayStation 5 presentation and Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City Wire broadcast.

For more Call of Duty news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or some of our MW2 Guides & Tutorials below:

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Call of Duty players call for racist names to be removed from Modern Warfare