In Call of Duty: Warzone, there are operators that come from a ton of different backgrounds. After Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War merged into Call of Duty: Warzone, the number of operators increased, and the cultural blend continued to be present. One recent Call of Duty: Warzone operator has been well received by fans, but one player noticed an inaccuracy in their outfit.
Language is a complicated thing, and in Asian cultures, it can become hard for non-natives to navigate the differences in text and speech. Call of Duty: Warzone pulls operators from across the world, and a recent Laotian operator has gained some additional attention. One eagle-eyed fan noticed that Naga's headband might be in the wrong language.
Reddit user ToastyD posted an image of Naga's bio that shows a clear depiction of his headband. They explain that they are from Thailand and that the operator has Thai text on his headband rather than Laotian, which is where Naga is from. Call of Duty: Warzone's operator Naga seems to have the wrong text, but the translation does remain relatively the same as intended. From a development standpoint, this could be a mistake as Thai and Lao are neighboring countries. Although they are different cultures, the developers may have not immediately noticed the difference in their language.
I'm Thai. Naga's headband says พญานาค which is in Thai. Laotian is ພະຍານາກ. I understand the counties are neighboring each other but they're definitely different languages :( from blackopscoldwar
Call of Duty: Warzone players are reminded of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's map Karachi where the city was covered in Arabic despite the map being in Pakistan. From a cultural perspective, one player compares this to when an English speaker gets a Chinese tattoo without ever knowing what it means.
ToastyD does provide an interesting bit of bonus information as the Call of Duty: Warzone's operator mentioned "Phaya Naga" near the end of his headband. Phaya Naga is the name of a mythical serpent that lives within the Mekong River that runs through both Laos and Thailand. The Naga lives on the border of life and death and, from ToastyD's description, and spit fireballs out of the river.
While the story may be in line with the character's background, the text is still in the wrong language. Call of Duty: Warzone fans are astounded at the lack of Call of Duty's attention to detail when it comes to cultural lines. Call of Duty fans often find these errors on maps, but for it to appear on an operator's outfit is frustrating, to say the least.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.