Call Of Duty: Warzone Developers Rename Controversial “Border War” Skin

Available in Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Warzone, the controversial “Border War” skin has been renamed to “Home on the Range.”

There are days where one must wonder about the process behind certain decisions in your favorite video games. Today, we wonder who thought it would be a good idea to name a Call of Duty skin “Border War.” The skin can be purchased for use in both Modern Warfare and Warzone, which dresses up Wayne “D-Day” Davis in a militarized police outfit, with the flag of Texas clearly shown on his left shoulder.

For those who may have been living under a rock for the last few years, immigration concerns are a delicate issue around the world, especially between the United States and Mexico. In 2019, El Paso, Texas, experienced a terrible act of violence when a gunman traveled to the area for eleven hours before murdering 23 people, mainly targeting Hispanics, in a Wal-Mart.

In his manifesto, the shooter made statements relating to anti-immigration, Hispanophobia, white supremacy, eco fascism, and more. And yet, less than a year later, someone decided that the description for the “Border War” skin should be, “teach them the errors of their ways and make them pay.”

It is difficult to imagine how such an error could be made when deciding what is appropriate to release in one of the most popular video game franchises in the world. If done with deliberate knowledge, then the game is perpetrating messages of hate on purpose, which is nothing less than evil. If done by mistake, then this developer is completely incompetent, and we are not sure what is worse in this case: outright evil or absurdly incompetent.

Putting aside the obvious targeting of Hispanic refugees with this message, the even more recent problem with the skin is the glorification of militarizing the US police. Protests have been ongoing since May to defund the police, and acts of police brutality have been captured in cities all across the country.

To try and distance themselves from their inappropriate cosmetic, the skin is now called “Home on the Range,” with a description that references hunting deer. For some reason, this deer hunting skin still features the “POLICE” logo prominently on the chest.

Next Infinity Ward should remove all the skins glorifying the police, including one called Border War, which has the description “teach them the errors of their ways and make them pay” https://t.co/vGp7OiXlVv

— Zach (@BearClawGaming) July 7, 2020

In every sense, this is a poor attempt at a cover up. The skin should be removed, and many would suggest a thorough internal investigation into how such a skin could make it into the live game, especially as recently as April.