Swastikas get Wolfenstein Pulled in Germany
Activision Blizzard has yanked Raven Software’s recently released Wolfenstein off store shelves in Germany after it was found that a few sneaky little swastikas made it through the cleansing blitzkrieg censorship of the final product for the German market.
For those of you who don’t know, Nazi imagery (including the swastika itself) is forbidden in Germany, unless used in an artistic or historical context (and before I hear you cry “But games are art!”, the German government would seem to disagree with you). Serious consequences are on the cards for those who don’t obey, such as fines or even actual jail time for repeat offenders.
There are two things that annoy me about this story, the first is the fact that Germany is stupid and is once again taking the tried and tested ‘œburn the books about bad things so we don’t turn into a bunch bad people that burn books’ approach. The second is the fact that this has been in place for nigh on half a century now, there really isn’t an excuse for not abiding by the laws of a country, no matter how idiotic you may think they are.
Check out some comparisons of the two versions here if you are so inclined
Via: Gamasutra
News Tags: bacon, banned, Germany, killergames, swastika, Wolfenstein
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Nice post, Gandy! I first found out about this from a producer when I was testing a Battlefield 1942 patch. I appreciate the attempts to kill the Nazi party in all forms in Germany, but come on.
Well at least they’ve been saved from a terrible game.
I can relate to that. Germany and Austria are under political scrutinity from every where about Nazi stuff. When Austria voted SLIGHTLY right a few years back, France (who was FAR right back then) stopped delivering trade goods for a while. Because they dont want to support a country thats “going to make the same mistakes again”. So yes, our govs beat down superduper hard on the smallest swastika and even as little as a raised right arm and a small yelling means jailtime. Because we have to show the OTHERS that we are “clean”. Even if it doesn´t look like it, but it´s still a complex issue 60 years later. I guess we need another 100-200 years before we (Germany and Austria) are considered “brown-free”
@NoZart:
That’s really interesting. Echoes of the Treaty of Versailles?
maybe, sure feels like it.
wolfenstein is not pulled in austria, though. In general, laws are somewhat “lighter” in austria or we lag behind (austria seems to apply a “lets see how it works out in germany, then adapt”-stance)
also, we generally seem to get less flak from outside than germany in regards of “wiederbetätigung” – i think mainly because we are wimps military-wise.