Real-life hotel may be considering legal action as it appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
The Greenhouse Hotel in Amsterdam is unhappy with its apparent appearance in the most recent Call of Duty. The in-game version of the hotel is called Breenbergh, presumably to avoid copyright protection of the name, although looking at the real-world building and the in-game version makes it clear that the two are identical.
“We noticed that the Greenhouse Hotel was an unwelcome setting for the new Call of Duty,” hotel manager Roy Tomassen told de Volksrant (translated via PCGamer). “More generally, we do not support games that appear to encourage the use of violence. Games in no way reflect our core values, and we regret our apparent and unwelcome participation.”
PCGamer noted that de Volksrant reported that the hotel is still considering what it intends to do next, although the wording seems to suggest the hotel hasn’t ruled out legal action. The building is actually copyrighted under European and US law, so the lawsuit could have some footing if the five-star hotel decides to go ahead.
Activision also didn’t contact the hotel for permission to feature it in the game, and it’s used in both the campaign and multiplayer maps. The building was also destroyed in the shootout, creating a negative picture overall.
The Amsterdam level actually went viral online because it realistically portrayed real life in a surprisingly quaint way that we rarely see in video games. While that’s in stark contrast to the amount of violence in the game, the oddity can only last so long.
Despite the controversy, the latest CoD does a good job on its own, with the latest title being the biggest release ever on Steam.
