Infinity Ward has apparently removed the "OK" gesture from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone. Neither the studio nor Activision has officially confirmed the removal at this time, but its absence was noted by players on Twitter and Reddit last week.

Gestures in Call of Duty are exactly what they sound like: offhand gestures to other players, such as clenching a fist, giving a thumbs-up, or throwing horns. In action movies, it is like special forces soldiers communicating complex strategies and orders to each other simply by waving their hands or pointing, but in video games it is often used for taunts and silent snide remarks.

All are fairly harmless except for the "OK" gesture with the thumb and index finger curled up and the other three fingers extended (you can't point a bird at another player). The Anti-Defamation League notes that its long history as a gesture that simply means "okay" means that "particular care should be taken when evaluating this symbol," but also explains how the gesture was adopted in recent years as "a sincere expression of white supremacy."

"Today, the overwhelming use of the 'OK' hand gesture remains its traditional purpose as a gesture of consent or approval," the ADL site states.

"As a result, one cannot assume that those who use this symbol are trolling or using it in a specifically white supremacist context unless other contextual evidence exists to support that claim.

While we have seen no evidence that the "OK" gesture is actively used by white supremacists in the game, the possibility clearly exists; Infinity Ward has recently acknowledged that it needs to do more to combat racist abuse in Modern Warfare and Warzone They have acknowledged that they need to do more to combat this, and while some players are not happy with the removal of this gesture, under the circumstances, I think this is a simple, obvious, and very understandable move.

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

Thanks, Eurogamer.