Call of Duty: Modern Warfare players, as well as Call of Duty: Warzone players won't be able to give all the hand signals with other players they could have done initially.
The developer of the Call of Duty games nowadays, Infinity Ward, seemed to have completely wiped away the "OK" hand gesture out of the game most likely because they were concerned that the gesture was a racist hand sign.
What Is This Drama About the 'OK' Hand Gesture in 'Call of Duty'?
If you don't know what gestures are, they are what you think they might be. They let players make gestures with the hand that isn't holding their equipped weapon. Examples of gestures are a thumbs-up and a fist, but there are many others you can do.
These gestures are what you would see in action movies, like where the main characters give each other gestures to communicate orders and strategies to one another. However, in video games, things like gestures are usually used to taunt other players.
The "OK" hand gesture, which is where you form a circle with your thumb and pointer finger while the other fingers stay extended, was added into the game a few months ago, but now the hand gesture has been removed from the game, as well as the middle finger gesture.
Activision and Infinity Ward haven't made any comments regarding the removal of the "OK" hand gesture in the games, and the update notes don't mention the gesture's removal.
Like numerous other corporations and companies, Infinity Ward has released a public statement that shows their support for the Black Lives Matter movement in a tweet. They pledged to crack down on the racism that some players show in the games they make.
This pledge stated that they would add racism monitoring as well as reporting systems, while also implementing filters and gameplay restrictions.
pic.twitter.com/o2nR4ZNQL0 — Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) June 3, 2020
Infinity Ward and Call of Duty claim to stand for equality and inclusion. Infinity Ward also stated that they stood against the prejudice, injustice, and racism that the Black community has had to endure. The company says that the community they are striving to be is impossible until the necessary changes happen.
What's Wrong With The "OK" Hand Gesture?
Debates on the "OK" hand gesture often happen on the internet. The hand gesture was claimed to be an expression of white supremacy by the Anti-Defamation League, who chronicle white supremacy incidents. According to their website, they think so due to how the gesture means "OK," and how it is used as a gesture for "trolling."
However, the Anti-Defamation League has now stated that due to the overwhelming usage of the hand gesture, anyone that uses the gesture can't be immediately assumed to be using it to troll or was under a white supremacist context. They will need contextual evidence that they are a white supremacist before coming to that conclusion.
In the Call of Duty games, the "OK" hand gesture is used by players in the multi-player modes to indicate that they're doing a trick shot. Many clips that players upload online would have them doing the hand gesture as they end a match with the last kill.
The video below has all gestures in the hand as of April 15, 2020, so you will see the mentioned hand gesture:
