COD, WoW removed from sale in Norway after killings
Retailer Coop Norway temporarily takes 51 games and toys off shelves
Norwegian retailer Coop Norway has temporarily taken 51 gaming and toy brands off its shelves in response to the murders committed by Anders Behring Breivik last month.
Breivik referred to Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and World Of Warcraft in his manifesto.
"The decision to remove the games was made around the time we realised the scope of the attack," Geir Inge Stokke, director of Coop Norway Retail told the Norwegian press.
"Others are better suited than us, to point to the negative effects of games like these. At the moment it's [appropriate] for us to take them down. I wouldn't be surprised if others do the same. We have to think very carefully about when to bring these goods back. The economy involved is of no importance."
Some of the titles that have been removed along with Modern Warfare 2 and World Of Warcraft include COD: Black Ops, COD: World at War, COD 4: Modern Warfare, Homefront, Sniper Ghost Warrior, and Counter-Strike Source. Toy guns have also been taken off sale.
Breivik murdered 77 people in terror attacks on July 22. In his 15,000 page manifesto "2083: A European Declaration of Independence," he talked about using World Of Warcraft as a cover for being out of contact, and saw Modern Warfare 2 as a teaching aid.
"I see MW2 more as a part of my training-simulation than anything else," said Brevik.
Activision Blizzard has yet to comment on the situation.