Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward has played down concerns over would-be critics who attempt to link in-game events and real-life tragedies. Here's looking at you, Daily Mail.
Asked by msxbox-world if he worried about how players and non-gamers will perceive the Russian assault on New York depicted in Modern Warfare 3 given the city's history of terrorist attacks, creative strategist Robert Bowling said:
"I'm not too worried about it because the conflict that's raging in Modern Warfare 3 is very different from any real life scenario because this is a war, this is a full-on Russian military invasion of the entire US that started in Modern Warfare 2.
"They have already disabled Washington DC and the war has just organically been progressing off the East Coast and the New York is a major city that would... So this is very different because it's full-on military fighting through the streets, so I think that's going to be very clear once people play it and get hands-on and see what type of conflict this is, and then it spreads to the other major cities."
Modern Warfare 3's global brand of warfare will also be visiting London, Paris and Berlin, among other locations, leaving tube trains derailed and who knows what other carnage in its wake.