➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Amsterdam blues

• 🏨 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 features a building that bears a striking resemblance to a real-life Dutch hotel

• 😠 But the hotel’s management isn’t happy with the unsolicited depiction

• 😶 It’s considering taking further action to settle the matter

• 🧨 Activision might want to be careful who they blow up next time

A Dutch hotel that features in the recently released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is unhappy with its unsolicited inclusion in the shooter, and is considering escalating its frustration.

A depiction of the Conservatorium Hotel features in Modern Warfare 2’s single-player mission Tradecraft and is the central location of a multiplayer map. Although named the Breenbergh Hotel in the game, its neo-Gothic facade and interior design are almost identical to the real Amsterdam building. In the campaign, it’s left burning after a shootout – a plot point that the hotel’s real-life management doesn’t appear to appreciate.

“We have taken note of the fact that the Conservatorium Hotel is undesirably the scene of the new Call of Duty“, hotel manager Roy Tomassen told Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant (translated using Google). 

“More generally, we don't support games that seem to encourage the use of violence. The game in no way reflects our core values ​​and we regret our apparent and unwanted involvement.”

De Volkskrant says the hotel is still considering what steps to take in response to its inclusion, but legal retaliation may not be off the table. Architectural drawings are listed as examples of copyrightable works under Dutch law, although freedom of panorama allows any building that’s displayed in a public area to be reproduced without infringement. The provision is most often deployed to allow artists to paint buildings and scenery without incurring legal retaliation.

It remains to be seen whether that freedom extends to video games. If the  Conservatorium Hotel is so upset with the building’s recreation that it seeks legal action, we might soon find out.

A potential lawsuit from a Dutch hotel isn’t the only hurdle Modern Warfare 2 has faced since launch. Xbox players were disappointed to find crossplay couldn’t be turned off in-game, and a whole bunch of freebies were exclusively given to PlayStation users. At least an iconic Call of Duty map has made comeback, so that’s something.