Press F to pay respects

Last updated
Screenshot of the meme from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, where the prompt is visible both on the screen and over the coffin PressFtoPayRespects.jpg
Screenshot of the meme from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare , where the prompt is visible both on the screen and over the coffin

"Press F to pay respects" is an Internet meme that originated from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare , a 2014 first-person shooter in Activision's Call of Duty franchise. It originated as a set of instructions conveyed during an in-game quick time event at a funeral service. Widely mocked by critics and players due to its forced element of interactivity that was not perceived to be tastefully executed, the phrase would later become a notable Internet meme in its own right. It is sometimes used by Internet commenters to convey solidarity and sympathy, either sarcastic or sincere, in response to unfortunate events.

Contents

Origin

In Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the default control to "use" or interact with an object is F on PC, Xbox button X.svg on Xbox, and PlayStationSquare.svg on PlayStation, with the latter two buttons being a hold instead of a press. [1]

The exact prompt "Press F to Pay Respects" ("Hold Xbox button X.svg to Pay Respects" in Xbox versions and "Hold PlayStationSquare.svg to Pay Respects" in PlayStation versions) appears as a prompt during a playable segment where the player character, U.S. Marine Corps Private First Class Jackson "Jack" Mitchell, mourns the death of his comrade, Private William "Will" Irons, during the latter's memorial service after he is killed saving Mitchell's life in battle. Upon performing the action, Mitchell steps forward and places his right hand on Irons' coffin for approximately six seconds, before turning around to leave. [2]

According to Advanced Warfare level designer Steve Bianchi, this was a last-minute change: the original segment had the player hammer a pin into Irons' grave per Navy SEAL funeral rites, but the creative team had to change the scene after a military advisor objected to using a Navy SEAL tradition for Irons, a Marine. [3] In an interview with theScore esports, Advanced Warfare screenwriter John MacInnes described the prompt as "a byproduct of late-stage game development" that he did not have control over, adding he did not know it was in the game until a journalist asked him about it. [4]

The same prompt had appeared previously in the 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City , in a section where Batman can visit the alley where his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, were murdered, the prompt appearing if the player chooses to approach the chalk outlines of their bodies. Andrew Vestal of Gamasutra noted the difference between the two games was that in Arkham City, the prompt was optional, and that "Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the player decides to pay their respects or to keep on walking. The point has been made." [5]

Reception

Upon the release of Advanced Warfare in November 2014, many critics and players mocked the cutscene for its forced or awkward element of interactivity that seemed out of place at a memorial service. [6] The mechanic was frequently criticized and ridiculed for both being arbitrary and unnecessary, as well as being inappropriate to the mournful tone of the funeral the game otherwise intended to convey. [2] [5] [6] [7]

In 2014, late night show celebrity Conan O'Brien reviewed Advanced Warfare on a "Clueless Gamer" episode and criticized most of the gameplay of Advanced Warfare, particularly the "Hold X to Pay Respects" scene. [8] On the other hand, Paste described the mourning process, which takes the form of a quick time event, as terrifically funny with the potential to catch on as a viral meme. [9]

Spread

The phrase has since become detached from its source, sometimes used in a sincere and unironic manner. [10] [11] [12] [8] In the years after the release of Advanced Warfare, users began typing a singular "F" in chat windows on websites such as Twitch to convey condolences or a sense of sorrow when reacting to any unfortunate news on the Internet, leading streamers and others to refer to this with the phrase "F in the chat". [6] [13] A notable example of "F in the chat" was in the tribute stream for the Jacksonville Landing shooting, where some viewers responded to the proceedings by posting a single letter "F" in the chat. [14]

Legacy

In retrospect, Morgan Park of PC Gamer described the meme as Call of Duty 's greatest legacy. [15] Vitor Braz of GameRevolution described it as one of the most popular video game memes of all time. [11] Cecilia D'Anastasio of Kotaku referred to the meme as iconic, and further stated that it's not because it's "uniquely stupid", but because "the balance between 'sad' and 'flippant' is so hilariously lopsided". [8] Ky Shinkle of Screen Rant described it as a video gaming meme that never gets old, and stated that it's common among gamers when "F" appears in unfortunate news or circumstances. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F</span> 6th letter of the Latin alphabet

F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ef, and the plural is efs.

Infinity Ward, Inc. is an American video game developer. They developed the video game Call of Duty, along with seven other installments in the Call of Duty series. Vince Zampella, Grant Collier, and Jason West established Infinity Ward in 2002 after working at 2015, Inc. previously. All of the 22 original team members of Infinity Ward came from the team that had worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault while at 2015, Inc. Activision helped fund Infinity Ward in its early days, buying up 30 percent of the company, before eventually fully acquiring them. The studio's first game, World War II shooter Call of Duty, was released on the PC in 2003. The day after the game was released, Activision bought the rest of Infinity Ward, signing employees to long-term contracts. Infinity Ward went on to make Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the Modern Warfare reboot, and its sequel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online game</span> Video game played over the Internet

An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, and span many genres, including first-person shooters, strategy games, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). In 2019, revenue in the online games segment reached $16.9 billion, with $4.2 billion generated by China and $3.5 billion in the United States. Since the 2010s, a common trend among online games has been to operate them as games as a service, using monetization schemes such as loot boxes and battle passes as purchasable items atop freely-offered games. Unlike purchased retail games, online games have the problem of not being permanently playable, as they require special servers in order to function.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major League Gaming</span> Professional esports organization

Major League Gaming Corp. (MLG) is a professional esports organization. MLG is headquartered in New York City, New York and was founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the United States and Canada. The Boost Mobile MLG Pro Circuit was a television broadcast of Halo 2 MLG tournaments in 2006 and 2007, ESPN.com, and other broadband sites. The company has also been involved in television production, and game development. MLG's aim is to elevate computer and console game tournaments to viable competitive and spectator events.

Call of Duty is a military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-off and handheld games were made by other developers. The most recent title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, was released on November 10, 2023. The upcoming title, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, is scheduled to be released in October 2024.

<i>Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare</i> 2007 video game

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment in the Call of Duty series. The game breaks away from the World War II setting of previous entries and is instead set in modern times. Developed over two years, Modern Warfare was released in November 2007 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows and was ported to the Wii as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Reflex Edition in 2009.

Rahul Sood is the CEO and co-founder of Irreverent Labs, the former CEO of Unikrn), and was the founder of VoodooPC. Sood was also an early investor in AR/VR company Vrvana he's also an investor in blockchain play to earn horse racing game ZED Run, and high-end PC gaming company, MAINGEAR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quick time event</span> Gameplay element

In video games, a quick time event (QTE) is a method of context-sensitive gameplay in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen instruction/prompt. It allows for limited control of the game character during cut scenes or cinematic sequences in the game. Performing the wrong prompt, mistiming the action, or not performing any action at all results in the character's failure at their task, resulting in a death/failure animation and often an immediate game over or the loss of a life, with some games providing a lesser but significant penalty of sorts instead.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes five business units: Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, King, Major League Gaming, and Activision Blizzard Studios.

Sledgehammer Games, Inc. is an American video game developer company formed in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. The pair formerly worked at Visceral Games and are responsible for the creation of Dead Space. The company is based in Foster City, California. The studio has developed and co-developed various video games in the Call of Duty series. The company is owned by Activision which itself is owned by Microsoft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IW (game engine)</span> Game engine developed by Infinity Ward

The IW engine is a game engine created and developed by Infinity Ward for the Call of Duty series. The engine was originally based on id Tech 3. Aside from Infinity Ward, the engine is also used by other Activision studios working on the series, including primary lead developers Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games, and support studios like Beenox, High Moon Studios, and Raven Software.

<i>Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare</i> 2014 First-person shooter video game

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is a 2014 first-person shooter video game published by Activision. The eleventh major installment in the Call of Duty series, the game was developed by Sledgehammer Games for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One, while High Moon Studios developed the versions released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and Raven Software developed the game's multiplayer and the Exo-Zombies mode.

OpTic Gaming is an American professional esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The organization currently operates a Call of Duty team in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas, they also operate a Overwatch team in the Overwatch League, Dallas Fuel, as well as Rocket League, and Halo teams. They previously competed in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Gears of War 4, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale, Dota 2, League of Legends, Valorant, and Apex Legends. The organization is currently owned by Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez and Mike “Hastr0” Rufail.

Hans Eli Sebastian Fors, known by the pseudonym Forsen, is a Swedish Twitch streamer who initially gained popularity for having competed in StarCraft II, but is best known for competing in Hearthstone and for streaming a variety of popular games. He is also known for his rowdy fanbase, who call themselves "Forsen Boys" or "Forsen Bajs" and have had a hand in popularizing a number of Internet memes. Since December 2018, Forsen has had over one million followers on Twitch, and as of May 2023, has more than 1.7 million followers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Envy</span> American esports franchise

Team Envy was an American esports franchise based in Dallas, Texas, owned by Envy Gaming. Founded in 2007 as a professional Call of Duty team under the moniker Team EnVyUs, they fielded rosters in Counter-Strike, FIFA, Fortnite, Gears of War, Halo, League of Legends, Chess, Magic: the Gathering, Overwatch, Paladins, PUBG, Rocket League, SMITE, StarCraft, Super Smash Bros., Street Fighter and Valorant. Following the merger between Envy Gaming and OpTic Gaming, Envy Gaming retired the Team Envy brand in June 2022, shifting all of them to the OpTic Gaming moniker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scump</span> Professional Call of Duty player

Seth Abner, also known as scump, scumperjumper or The King is a former American professional Call of Duty player who last played for the Call of Duty League team OpTic Texas. Abner is a two time Major League Gaming (MLG) X Games gold medalist. During the first ever Esports Awards in 2016, Scump won the Esports Console Player of the Year award. In August 2017, Scump achieved his first ever Call of Duty World Championship. Abner is sponsored by several gaming hardware companies, including Turtle Beach and Scuf Gaming. He also runs a YouTube channel that currently has obtained over 2.7 million subscribers and over 665 million channel views as of November 10, 2023. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Call of Duty players of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TimTheTatman</span> American streamer (born April 8, 1990)

Timothy John Betar,, better known as TimTheTatman, is an American live streamer and internet personality on YouTube.

<i>Call of Duty: Mobile</i> 2019 video game

Call of Duty: Mobile is a 2019 first-person shooter video game developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Activision for Android and iOS. Released as a free-to-play title, it was one of the largest mobile game launches in history, generating over US$480 million with 270 million downloads within a year. Call of Duty: Mobile was published in other regions by Garena, Tencent Games, VNG Corporation and TiMi Studio Group.

<i>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare</i> (2019 video game) 2019 video game reboot

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a 2019 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. Serving as the sixteenth overall installment in the Call of Duty series, as well as a reboot of the Modern Warfare sub-series, it was released on October 25, 2019, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

References

  1. ↑ "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare/Controls". StrategyWiki. 7 September 2022. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 "'Press X to pay respects': Call of Duty Advanced Warfare's funeral scene is so Call of Duty". The Independent . November 4, 2014. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019. In an interactive scene as gleefully tasteless as the infamous airport massacre in Modern Warfare 2, the playable character Private Jack Mitchell attends the funeral of his best friend who died on a mission in South Korea, paying his heartfelt respects by either pressing F or holding X (depending on what console you're on).
  3. ↑ Fyfe, Duncan. "Paying Respects to Press F". Remap. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  4. ↑ theScore esports (8 May 2021). Press F: How a Failed Cutscene Became One of Gaming's Greatest Memes. YouTube. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 Vestal, Andrew (5 November 2014). "All Due Respect: Press F for Farce". Game Developer. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Newell, Adam (September 8, 2018). "The origin of "Press F to Pay Respects"". Dot Esports . Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Gaming's most ridiculous button prompts, including Call of Duty's 'Press F to Pay Respects'". November 3, 2014. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 "Five Years Of 'F' To Pay Respects". Kotaku . 4 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "The QTE is Dead—Long Live the QTE!". Paste . February 26, 2015. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Why I Kind Of Love Ghost Of Tsushima's "Press F To Pay Respects"". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 2021-12-27. Retrieved 2021-07-03. As the scene plays out, Advanced Warfare throws some interactivity your way to add some gravitas, prompting you to hit a button to enable your character to express their grief. If you're playing on PC, the default key for honoring the dead in this case is "F." [...]the instance in Advanced Warfare just feels particularly goofy, probably because it appears in such a high-profile game.
  11. 1 2 "Five years ago, the Press F to Pay Respects meme was born". GameRevolution . November 4, 2019. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ Chalk, Andy (December 10, 2020). "Press F to pay respects: The final Flash update is live". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ "The NUS are voting to stop 'douchebags' pressing F to pay respects today". The Nottingham Tab. April 10, 2019. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Madden's Jacksonville tribute stream and a new language of digital mourning". September 7, 2018. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  15. ↑ Park, Morgan (May 20, 2021). "We're getting the wrong Call of Duty sequel in 2021". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Video Game Memes That Will Never Get Old". Screen Rant . May 20, 2021. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.