Russian electronics stores say they won’t sell ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’ if it features another airport massacre mission

Major electronics stores in Russia will not sell the upcoming video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” if scenes allegedly inciting violence against Russians are not removed, the president of the Russian Association of Distributors and Importers of Video Games told the news outlet RBC. The organization announced its position after Activision released a gameplay teaser in mid-August.

The 20th game in the Call of Duty series and the third entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare sub-series, “Modern Warfare III” features the appearance of Russian terrorist Vladimir Makarov. The trailer includes a scene showing a text message with the words “No Russian” — an allusion to the fourth mission of “Modern Warfare 2” that controversially allows players to take part in the massacre of Russian civilians in a false-flag operation at a fictional Russian airport. The upcoming reboot will reportedly feature a rendition of the “No Russian” mission, though it’s still unknown how Activision might handle the content, given the scandal it caused in its original release in 2009.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Activision Blizzard suspended all sales in Russia.