Doom: “Press F to Pay Respects”

What developers intended as a moment of digital solemnity instead became gaming's most enduring unintentional comedy, transforming a single poorly-executed quick-time event into the internet's universal shorthand for both genuine sympathy and ironic mourning.

"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 (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025).

The prompt "Press F to Pay Respects" appears in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare during a scene where the player character mourns the death of his comrade, who was killed saving his life in battle. When the player presses the key, the character steps forward and places his right hand on his comrade's coffin for several seconds, then turns around to leave (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). On November 4th, 2014, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was released. In the opening scene from the game's second mission, the protagonist Private Jack Mitchell attends the funeral of his best friend who died fighting in South Korea. The player is then asked to "Press F to Pay Respects" if they are playing the game on a PC, or to press the "X" button while playing on a console (Know Your Meme, 2014).

The meme's viral spread began almost immediately upon the game's release. On November 2nd, YouTuber doku uploaded a video of the Call of Duty sequence titled "Press X to pay respects," in which the player is promoted upon touching the casket. On November 3rd, Late Night show celebrity Conan O'Brien reviewed the video game 'Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare' on his clueless gamer episode and criticized most of the gameplay including the "Press X to Pay Respects" scene (Know Your Meme, 2014).

The critical response was swift and merciless. 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. 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 (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). 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 (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025).

What made the meme particularly effective was its combination of unintended humor and genuine utility. The phrase has since become detached from its source, sometimes used in a sincere and unironic manner. 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" (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025).

The meme's evolution demonstrates the internet's ability to transform corporate missteps into cultural currency. With this meme's popularity, it brought a new meaning to the letter "F" itself, which came to be associated with sorrow and fails. On the livestreaming website Twitch, it began being spammed in the chat whenever such a thing happened (Know Your Meme, 2014). The single letter "F" became a universal symbol for both genuine condolences and ironic commentary on failure.

The cultural impact extends far beyond gaming. It is sometimes used by Internet commenters to convey solidarity and sympathy, either sarcastic or sincere, in response to unfortunate events (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). The meme has appeared in contexts ranging from celebrity deaths to sports failures to technical difficulties during livestreams. Its versatility and simplicity have made it one of the most enduring gaming memes of the 2010s.

In retrospect, the meme represents a significant moment in gaming culture's relationship with corporate-produced content. Morgan Park of PC Gamer described the meme as Call of Duty's greatest legacy. Vitor Braz of GameRevolution described it as one of the most popular video game memes of all time (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). The franchise itself has acknowledged the meme's cultural significance, with later Call of Duty games including easter eggs and references to the original moment.