Last week, Activision confirmed the launch of "Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War" with a video composed around an actual interview with defector Yuri Bezmenov: demoralization, destabilization, crisis, normalization. Clips of actual historical events, including the Vietnam War and riots in the U.S., were played throughout.

Earlier this week, the video was quietly removed and replaced with one roughly half its length. Activision did not say why the first trailer was removed or anything about what happened to it, but according to the South China Morning Post, it was because the original video contained brief footage from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The video was initially replaced with that clip blacked out, but was later replaced in its entirety at some point.

The original video is still available on YouTube from channels such as IGN and Gamespot, and a comparison of them shows that much of Bezmenov's interview, including the breakdown of the four-point strategy, was also cut. The trailer still begins with a warning that the U.S. is in a "state of war," a "slow process we call 'positive measures,'" but then moves straight into a warning about the "violent changes in power, structure, and economy" that threaten the United States. Gone are references to demoralization, destabilization, and crisis, and gone is the reference to Perseus, the code name for the as yet unknown Soviet spy who allegedly infiltrated the Manhattan Project.

Original trailer

According to a report in the Hong Kong Daily News, the video was first reported by a Chinese netizen who accused Activision of "exporting ideology" and "bringing politics into video games." China may now be particularly sensitive to references to Tiananmen, the site adds.

Despite the brevity of the clip, its removal could cause a headache for Activision: last year, Activision-owned Blizzard announced that Hearthstone grandmaster Chung 'Blitzchung' Ng Wai, in a post-match The player was banned from the game for appealing for Hong Kong's freedom from China in an interview, which drew heavy criticism.

And make no mistake, the irony of active censorship in a promo trailer for a game whose tagline is literally "Know Your History."

New footage

"Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War" will be revealed in full on August 26, but according to a leak that popped up today, it will be a direct sequel to the previous game ("Black Ops 2" was also a direct sequel, so it's unclear what will happen) and will feature " iconic characters" Woods, Mason, and Hudson will follow Perseus in the shadows.

We have asked Activision for comment and will update if we hear back.

Thanks, Kotaku.