A hotel in Amsterdam might take legal action over its in-game counterpart in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

A real-life hotel is potentially considering taking legal action due to being featured in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

The Amsterdam-based Conservatorium Hotel is not happy 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 on the name, though looking at the real-world building and the game version makes it clear that the two are the same.

“We have taken note of the fact that the Conservatorium Hotel is undesirably the setting for the new Call of Duty,” said Roy Tomassen, the hotel’s manager. by Volksrant (translations via pc gamer). “More generally, we do not support games that appear to encourage the use of violence. The game in no way reflects our core values, and we regret our apparent and unwelcome involvement.”

PCGamer notes that de Volksrant reported that the hotel is still considering what it plans to do next, though the wording seems to imply that the hotel has not ruled out legal action. The architecture is actually subject to copyright under both European and US law, so a lawsuit could have some footholds if the five-star hotel decides to proceed.

Activision also did not approach the hotel for permission for it to appear in the game, where it is used in both the campaign and a multiplayer map. The building is also destroyed in a firefight, which generally becomes a negative image.

The Amsterdam level actually went a bit viral online because of how realistically it depicts real life in such a surprisingly picturesque way, something we rarely see in video games. Though this is obviously in contrast to the amount of violence featured in the game, so the singularity only lasts for so long.

Despite the controversy, the latest CoD is doing quite well, and the latest title is the biggest release on Steam.