• Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 features troubling themes, notably the dehumanisation of Arabs. Previous games have disrespected the Qur’an.
• The game’s development is aligned with the U.S. military, with executives at Activision Blizzard having backgrounds as former CIA operatives.
Activision Blizzard collaborates closely with the U.S. military and national security agencies. Executives at Activision Blizzard have backgrounds as former CIA operatives.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has hailed last week’s Black Ops 6 launch the “biggest Call of Duty release ever,” noting it set a record for “Game Pass subscriber adds on launch day.” Microsoft’s Q1 FY2025 earnings report highlights a 43% year-over-year increase in gaming revenue, marking another quarter of significant growth. In August 2024, it was reported that the Tech giant promotes donations to illegal West Bank settlements.
Let’s return our focus to the game.
The Iraq war serves primarily as a backdrop, with figures like Saddam Hussein being pursued, Bill Clinton, and George Bush making brief cameo appearances.
Several troubling scenes emerge, including the helicopter gunship massacre of numerous Iraqi soldiers and the gratuitous interactive interrogation of a terrified prisoner.
These moments are particularly distressing for their glaring lack of moral context and analysis. The game showcases the dehumanisation of Arabs throughout, as players engage in combat against Iraqi forces.
Another scene in the game, titled “The Vault,” is set within Saddam Hussein’s palace.
Previous instalments of the Call of Duty franchise have similarly glorified the assassination of figures such as Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Cuba’s Fidel Castro.
Moreover, in 2021, Vanguard issued an apology following criticism from Muslim players who observed pages of the Quran scattered on the floor during a gameplay scene. The particulars of this story were covered at the time by our brother Zeeshan Ali on the Smile 2 Jannah YouTube channel.
In 2012, developers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had to remove a multiplayer map that showed Islamic religious texts including the word “Allah,” in a bathroom.
It’s important to note, the focus on America’s adversaries is not coincidental.
The game’s developer, Activision Blizzard, collaborates closely with the U.S. military and national security agencies in creating its titles. Moreover, many top executives at Activision Blizzard have backgrounds as former CIA operatives.
The real human carnage and suffering resulting from the Iraq War is a historical reality that the Call of Duty developers seem intent on erasing. In 2013, Richard Horton noted in The Lancet: “If all causes of mortality were considered, the total death toll could reach around one million.” This estimate takes into account the various indirect consequences of the war, such as the breakdown of healthcare systems.
