Why a former Valve writer just blasted Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Addressing the Call of Duty team, Faliszek remarked, "I get it. You're thinking, 'she has this great quote, she's a civil-rights activist, we're going to call attention to her.' No. This is exploitative. This is gross. Rosa Parks has nothing to do with the grossness of your shoot people in the face game. Don't have her as a death quote. Just don't."

Sledgehammer Games' decision to incorporate a quote from a non-violent activist in a tactical shooter game is indeed intriguing. While the quote itself is about courage, which could have aligned with the game's theme, the historical figure who uttered it doesn't quite fit the narrative of a first-person shooter.

Nevertheless, it's worth noting that the Call of Duty franchise has consistently featured death quotes in its single-player campaigns over the past decade. Many of the historical figures quoted in previous installments were not affiliated with the military. For instance, a death quote from Call of Duty 4 reads, "The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war." This quote is attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th-century essayist.

It would be an easy fix for Sledgehammer to replace the quote with something more appropriate. However, the studio is currently grappling with a multitude of challenges related to the game, particularly concerning player-reported issues, especially in the Multiplayer and Zombies modes. Modern Warfare 3 is plagued by persistent problems such as frequent crashes and stutters, causing considerable frustration among players. Amidst these technical issues, addressing the Rosa Parks quote may be just one item on the studio's extensive to-do list.