Kotaku report that over the weekend, Modern Warfare 2 players began to notice that the popular multiplayer map, Favela, had disappeared.
Activision and Infinity Ward reportedly took the map off rotation after receiving complaints from Muslim gamers, who had discovered offensive imagery contained within a room of the stage. The map will be edited before returning to rotation.
The room in question reportedly features two paintings whose frames contained a decorative representation of a quote (pictured below) attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, which reads “Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty.”
The paintings appeared in a bathroom, which can be offensive to those of Islamic faith – to see holy teachings written on or in a bathroom.
Activision sent the following statement to Kotaku:
We apologize to anyone who found this image offensive. Please be assured we were unaware of this issue and that there was no intent to offend. We are working as quickly as possible to remove this image and any other similar ones we may find from our various game libraries.
We are urgently working to release a Title Update to remove the texture from Modern Warfare 3. We are also working to remove the texture from Modern Warfare 2 through a separate Title Update. Until the TU is ready, we have removed the Favella multiplayer map from online rotation.
Activision and our development studios are respectful of diverse cultures and religious beliefs, and sensitive to concerns raised by its loyal game players. We thank our fans for bringing this to our attention.
