Call of Duty: Vanguard removes and apologizes for disrespectful depiction of the Qu'ran

Call of Duty's Middle East Twitter account has apologized after Vanguard displayed the Qu'ran in a disrespectful manner.

As first reported earlier today on November 11 by VGC, the Middle East Twitter account for the Call of Duty franchise issued an apology. You can see said apology in the tweet just below which, according to VGC, reads "there was content insensitive to Muslims included in the game, and it has been removed. It was not supposed to exist as it appeared in the game. We deeply apologise."

pic.twitter.com/bgXV178fPgNovember 11, 2021

Earlier this week, Call of Duty: Vanguard players discovered that a map for the horde-based Zombies mode featured a Qu'ran strewn about on the floor of a ruined building. Both players and game industry workers alike came forward to criticize the feature, noting how the Qu'ran was positioned in a manner that allowed players to walk on top of the holy book.

"Even if you think religion is nonsense, there's just no reason to be disrespectful towards two billion people's culture & beliefs in a videogame for a throwaway asset," Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail wrote on Twitter. Others on the social media site were quick to point out how insensitive the feature was, wondering how the placement of the Qu'ran on the floor even came to be in the first place.

Now though, the Qu'ran has been removed entirely from Vanguard's Zombies mode. "We are also taking all necessary measures at this moment within the company to determine and understand the situation and to avoid such errors in the future," the statement from the Call of Duty Middle East Twitter account concludes.