Chance Glasco, a co-founder of Infinity Ward and one of the creators behind the Call of Duty franchise, revealed that Activision once pressed the studio to center a game narrative around an Iranian invasion of Israel.

This disclosure arose after a video featuring Call of Duty gameplay was shared by the White House X account. The footage showed a character calling in a Kill Streak, followed by a sequence of real military bombing clips. The video displayed explosions alongside ‘+100’ score indicators, reminiscent of the kill markers familiar to players of the Call of Duty series.

In his reaction to the video, Glasco shared on social media, “This doesn’t come as a surprise. I recall that after Activision regained control following the formation of Respawn, there was some uncomfortable pressure for us to make the next CoD game revolve around Iran attacking Israel. Fortunately, most of our developers found the idea appalling, and it was ultimately rejected.”

Further discussing this matter in response to social media reactions to the White House video, Glasco noted, “Many of us devs were horrified because it felt like Activision was pushing political propaganda.”

When questioned about why a depiction of Iran invading Israel felt like propaganda, while portrayals of conflicts in other countries such as the UK and Mexico did not, Glasco explained, “The crucial point here is that the government is willing to use entertainment, including video games, as a means to influence public opinion on significant matters. For decades, there has been pressure from various administrations for a conflict with Iran, unlike the situations you referenced.”

Glasco asserted that during his time at Infinity Ward, narrative choices were never influenced by political motives. He stated, “Throughout my entire time at Infinity Ward—covering CoD1 through CoD: Ghosts—none of our storylines aimed to promote propaganda regarding any conflicts.” Addressing the controversial “No Russian” mission in Modern Warfare 2, in which civilians are harmed at an airport, Glasco remarked, “With the earlier CoDs, we aimed to remind players that war is gruesome and not merely a game. If you explore the earlier IW CoD titles, you will see this theme threaded throughout the series. Our goal was to evoke feelings of disgust and make players truly empathize with the horrors of war.”

This incident is not isolated, as the U.S. government has previously integrated video games into their social media strategies. For instance, the game Halo was featured in promotions for ICE, leading to discontent from some of its original developers. Additionally, the original theme of Pokémon was used to advertise the Department of Homeland Security. A spokesperson from the White House commented to journalist Alyssa Mercante that such initiatives were “hugely popular” among gamers.