While the developer and Activision have yet to comment on the gesture’s removal in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone, it has been removed from the games. The patch notes don’t reflect the removal. As Eurogamer points out, the gesture, which originally meant “okay” for eons, was likely removed due to its recent adoption as a hate symbol. Last year, the sign was noted as “a sincere expression of white supremacy” by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL notes that due to the okay hand gesture having been around since at least the 17th century," particular care must be taken not to jump to conclusions about the intent behind someone who has used the gesture." That said, the symbol was first attributed to its current use on 4Chan as a hoax to get a reaction from the media. In the end, the sign was adopted by the far-right as a means of trolling. The link to the ADL discusses the adoption of the gesture in detail. The OK gesture was added to Modern Warfare and Warzone earlier this year, and was apparently removed last week.
