In a surprise move on Friday, Activision quietly rolled out a software update to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 that eliminates the “No Russian” stage from the single player campaign. This change comes thirteen years after the game’s initial release in 2009, and affects the game on all platforms, including remastered versions. 

Activision released no official statement on the change, but it is almost certainly due to current Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine, and not the long-standing criticism that the stage includes violence directed at civilians. We at The Splintering reached out to Activision for comment, and while we weren’t able to get an official response, one Activision official who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity simply said, “Fuck Russia!” 

Activision responded to initial criticism of the stage in 2009 by making it skippable. It is worth noting that CoD:MW2 is rated M for Mature (17+).

Certainly the mod community will have few problems restoring the stage through unofficial channels, but if Modern Warfare 2 has been sitting in your Xbox 360 backlog for a while, don’t download the update if you’re interested in seeing the stage. 

We’ll be sure to provide updates as the story develops. 

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