The maker of Call of Duty is being sued by the former dictator of Panama over his appearance as a villain in the hugely popular video game series.
Manuel Noriega was ousted as leader of the Central American state when the US invaded in 1989, and spent almost two decades in a Miami jail on drug trafficking charges.
Now 80 and residing in a prison in Panama, Noriega is seeking damages from game publisher Activision Blizzard for portraying him as “a kidnapper, murderer and enemy of the state” in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
In the game, which sold more than 24 million copies worldwide, a character called Manuel Noriega reneges on a deal with the CIA, betrays the main playable characters and indiscriminately shoots members of his “own private police force” – the army of Panama.
