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Uncategorized Monday, October 8th 2012 at 12:45 pm

Modern Warfare 2 Map Removed After Complaints by Perfectly Reasonable Muslim Gamers

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This past weekend, one of the popular multiplayer maps for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 disappeared from the regular rotation. Favela, as the map is called, was taken down by developer Infinity Ward, and by extension publisher Activision, because Muslim gamers had found and complained about a bit of offensive imagery present in the level. See, one of the decorative frames in a bathroom found in the level contains a quote from the Prophet Muhammad — which is a big no-no in the Islamic faith.

Kotaku explains:

In a single room on the map, two paintings had been hung whose frames contained a decorative representation of a quote attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, which reads “Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty”. Those paintings were hung in a bathroom, one right above a toilet, and didn’t appear to be found anywhere else on the map.

Infinity Ward had to take it down to change the textures. It’s not just some part of the game they can tweak, because it’s an art asset that’s traditionally static. It’s pretty much the only way they could actually respond appropriately.

Though this will surely be blown out of proportion by folks, this is noteworthy for being a practical response from both sides. Gamers noted an offensive bit of content, brought it up, and the developers responded in a timely fashion to very reasonable complaints. It’s not like Infinity Ward was out to upset Muslims, and given that they’re in the business of selling as many copies of their games as possible, this was the obvious route to take.

(via Kotaku, image via Kotaku)

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  • http://twitter.com/rayban5016 Ray O.

    Wow, the PC police are nit picking every little thing these days.

  • Bob

    It will be sorted out soon, and we can all go back to pretend killing each other :-)

  • Ali

    Great article. OK, let’s get some perspective, I’m a Muslim and I’m a gamer who loves Call of Duty, having bought every single game and keenly waiting for Black Ops 2. There are a very large number of gamers like me who would rather give up playing these games than put up with content I truly find offensive. Other people are free to complain about anything they find offensive in there. There are a minority of extremists out there who use these issues as more evidence of anti-islamic hatred and try to drive the rest of us muslims towards extremism, which leads to more polarisation on both sides. It’s great if these issues are resolved quickly and easily so that we can avoid confrontation, it’s called compromise, and I’m thankful to Activision for working to resolve the issue quickly.

  • http://www.facebook.com/andrew.host.77 Andrew Host

    Seriously?!?!? Wow…… If this truly offends you, then you need to change your panties and GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY VIDEO GAME WORLD……Pussy muslims……

  • Idlethoughts

    OK what the crud geekosystem community, how does this have four down votes? What’s the problem; That he follows a different faith than you? That he can be offended by different things than you? That he believes in resolving issues civilly? Seriously is there a single defensible problem people could have with this comment, because I can’t think of one.

  • Johnny_V

    well if we are going to start nitpicking call of duty how about the crap where you go to pop someone with a grenade launcher or a rocket and you hear the thump or whoose of your round and you die and the daggun rocket/ grenade disappears in thin air leaving the person who killed you in good health,,,,, lets fix that glitch

  • Diamond Dave

    Why the hell should we have to compromise on the count of some bronze age nonsense? I will no longer purchase any product from this company. Muslims, Jews and Christians can all suck each others’ dicks. Oh yeah, thanks for plunging this world into darkness. Cunt.

  • http://www.facebook.com/blake.nunley.7 James Blake Nunley

    To find this on a mirror they must of really been bored. Does it really matter at all what was put on the frame of a mirror that no one pays attention to?

  • SarcasmHurts

    As a US Marine Veteran that suffers from PTSD, I would like to see the possibility of dying or being wounded in Modern Warfare 1 and 2 removed, these images cause alot of pain for me every time I try to enjoy the game. You can leave the death and injury or the Russians and Muslims, but I know for a fact that myself and many other veterans that suffer from PTSD have a hard time seeing even digital versions of ourselves and our brothers wounded.

    No? Dont give a fuck about my opinion? Then stop coddling these fucking Haji’s just because something offends them.

  • Ash

    Why do you have to use abusive language bro? Nobody’s asking you to convert or anything, it’s only a bit of text that needs removed. And it’s my video game world as well, just because I have a different point of view to you you feel that you have to verbally abuse me.

  • pappy86us

    Why does it have to be removed? Why can’t the you hajis just let it go…. so what its a picture in a game! You fucking hajis think that we need to change everything in the US because it offends you! Next you Hajis will complain cause there is a pig in the game. Grow some balls hajis… let it go!

  • Ash

    I’m from the UK and no I don’t want everything to be changed. I’m very happy for you to continue enjoying all your freedoms even though some of them may be against my own beliefs. I don’t mind pigs being in this game. A change to a piece of artwork in the game won’t make any difference to your freedom, it’s of no consequence to you but it does mean a lot to me.

  • karnie

    I don’t understand all the hate about this… the big story here is that everyone acted rationally (unlike some of the comments seen here). I can understand if there were world-wide uprisings and people at Activision were murdered over this, but insulting people’s faith because you were temporarily without one lousy map on one lousy video game? How sad is YOUR life that you can’t live without your precious sole source of entertainment for a few days while they fix this, after which the game from your perspective will be EXACTLY the same?

  • Chris

    The thing that i don’t understand is that people take the piss out of every religion and do/say/show things that could be offensive to every mainstream religion out there. Yet it’s only the muslims who get their panties in a twist and make a huge fuss about anything that is even in the slightest bit offensive. Take Monty Python’s the life of brian, sure a load of old people complained about it but no one rioted and stormed an embassy.

  • Idlethoughts

    Two words: War on Christmas. A lot of people get their panties in a twist about religion, it just that the current craziest countries happen to also be muslim, so things which are offensive to muslims can often end al lot worse.

  • Idlethoughts

    Thank you for demonstrating that the problem of intolerant assholes is not just exclusive to religion.

  • Idlethoughts

    PTSD is mental disorder not a culture, we already “coddle” plenty of people by trying not to be unnecessarily offensive to them, for instance most decent people don’t refer to others by slur or racial epithets. And honestly it’s a painting what do you care if it’s part of the scenery.

  • Ash

    @Chris I understand yes I guess we are pretty sensitive sometimes. But there are lots and lots of things in western culture which go against islamic principles e.g. alcohol, interest based banking, gambling, pork etc. but have you ever heard muslims rioting or protesting to get rid of these things? No, because muslims recognise there are many things in western culture which are in line with islamic principles such as freedom from oppression, rule of law, cleanliness, education, and business. I am very happy that non-muslims are able to enjoy the things they like, so what if we nitpick about little things from time to time. PS. I’m not saying I would riot or storm an embassy if this game wasnt changed, I would just stop playing this game and lose one of my hobbies that’s all. There are millions of muslims like me who stay quiet, who don’t go on the streets, who don’t even try to argue in forum comments, for example during the recent protests against the video on youtube our local imams and friends urged each other not to react and to be patient and to destroy falsehood by ignoring it. But the picture on the mainstream media is about millions of muslims rioting like crazy, it’s a minority and I believe it seems to be worse in poorer countries where people have other political and social problems and are not educated enough to apply their skills to productive issues peacefully. I and all my friends and family would never resort to violence on these issues, just realise just because we are of the same faith we don’t all act the same we are individuals.

  • Lcpl4life0311

    I’m also a U.S. Marine who suffers from PTSD and I see where you’re going with the sarcasm here, but if the sight of servicemen being wounded and or killed in the virtual world triggers your reoccurring memories and nightmares then you should probably stop playing those types of games, at least until you’re at a point in your life where you’re able to play these sort of games again without it bothering you so much. With that said, it’s only a couple of paintings that serve as a minor background aesthetic. And the developers are putting the map back on as soon as they tweak the problem. Not a huge deal. There are still plenty of maps with simulated mayhem to choose from.

  • pete

    I personally think that if its really that big of a deal that a painting that has muslim scripture that offends muslims dont fuckin play go kick rocks or something get off your high horse and move the fuck on if you really get that butt hurt over it again dont play its fuckin america dont like it go back to your own countrys!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Gaspode

    Guys, try reading what the muslim players are saying on this board. They are being perfectly reasonable and tollerant whereas you lot are actually making the Christians and non-muslims look bad by name-calling and throwing your little rattles out of the pram.
    Grow up.

  • Gaspode

    I’m all for intollerance where it is deserved. The way the muslim gamers have reacted to this has only been to their credit (in fact it is a refreshing change to see a “normal” side to them for once).
    I for one am glad you won’t be buying anymore of these games, you sound like a dick anyway to be honest.

  • Idlethoughts

    I think geekosystem’s odd commenting format has mislead you as to my intent, I was responding to Chris by giving an example of people being enraged by a perceived slight to a different religion, demonstrating that this type of action is not exclusive to muslims or any group of people for that matter. Also if you look at my other posts on this thread I think you will find I was one of the first commentators to bring up the exact sentiment your expressing.

    It doesn’t really matter that much anyway, this is a pretty old article and the discussion’s mostly fizzling out anyway.

  • Anonymous

    Im a Muslim and i see people hating over me everyday just because im a Muslim……but the thing is that it really hurts me, Sometimes i feel such low life and feel as if i was not made a Human being. People say i killed thousands of people at the 9/11 event just because im a Muslim? i receive hatings from everywhere even here in the UK. But have you ever thaught what it’s like to be Muslim it feels so bad….i just can’t describe i hope this world was a better place and also the Al-Qaeda were not the part of Islam because Islam does not teach Muslims to kill those who are Non-Muslims and refuse to convert, Our Holy Prophet was a model of excellence but people are too ignorant and lazy to seek the truth and would rather hate and abuse the ones who are already being mentally tortured.

  • http://www.al-islam.org/laws/najisthings.html Najis Kafir

    your prophet was a warlord, slave trading, little girl thighing, rapist, and a liar.. if he existed at all

  • http://www.al-islam.org/laws/najisthings.html Najis Kafir

    “Islam does not teach Muslims to kill those who are Non-Muslims and refuse to convert”

    you are a liar too

  • Anonymous

    BS

  • Hood

    You could argue that the response was reasonable; but by no respectable standards was the complaint reasonable. Activision didn’t respond so quickly because they are oh so sensitive. They responded son quickly out of fear, fear of the issue getting bigger, of someone ending up like Theo van Gogh. If any other group complained about something they found offensive, they wouldn’t have done anything about it. But since it was Muslims who complained… Muslims seem to think they deserve special treatment and to play by a different set of rules.

  • PoodleSheep

    The appropriate response would’ve been to add a picture of jesus taking it up the ass from mary with a strap-on and responding “grow up and stop believing in fairy tale books. As you can see we don’t think the christian space ghost and his bastard son have better fairy tales”

  • LOL

    o my gooood GET OVER IT!!!!! it dosent hurt any1, if its hurting ur little bu-bu then dont play.