Call of Duty makers sued by families of Uvalde mass shooting victims

Modified May 25, 2024 05:18 GMT

Call of Duty developer Activision has landed in hot water as it has been sued by the families of the Uvalde mass shooting victims for allegedly promoting gun use. In the lawsuit filed, the families claim the video game maker is marketing realistic weapons to underage children.

The lawsuit states:

"They [Call of Duty] are designed to perfectly imitate their real-life counterparts in look, feel, recoil and accuracy. With Instagram's blessing and assistance, purveyors of assault weapons can inundate teens with content that exalts lone gunmen, exploits tropes of sex and hypermasculinity and directs them where to buy their Call of Duty-tested weapon of choice."

The lawsuit was filed on on May 24, 2023, against Activision (Call of Duty maker), Meta (owner of Instagram), and Daniel Defense (AR-15 assault rifle makers). It was filed by Josh Koskoff on behalf of the families.

Call of Duty maker respond to the lawsuit filed against them

Activision responds to the lawsuit filed against them (Image via Steam)

In a statement given to the New York Times, a spokesperson from Activision said:

"We express our deepest sympathies to the families."

However, the Call of Duty maker also claimed that "millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts."

According to the lawsuit, the shooter was "groomed" by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) in November 2021. The shooter allegedly became obsessed and began researching firearms after purchasing the game.

Following the incident, the families of the victims filed a lawsuit against Activision for its realistic depiction of gunplay. However, this is not the first time the game has come under fire for this reason.

In the past, Modern Warfare 2 received backlash for including the 'No Russian' mission, in which players had to exterminate civilians at a Russian airport. While the game has had its fair share of controversy, it is still one of the most popular titles in the FPS genre with over 425 million copies sold.

Check out other Call of Duty titles from Sportskeeda:

Edited by Rachel Syiemlieh