The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), announced May 20 that Wolfenstein: The New Order has been released in Germany for the first time since the series began in 1981.
Fans of the game will know that the The New Order is set in a fictional 1960 in which Nazi Germany was victorious in World War II rather than the Allied powers. It is not difficult to understand how use of Nazi imagery could easily touch a sensitive spot amongst gamers in Germany.
It is more than a moral hurdle, however, that publisher Bethesda Softworks has had to overcome. Displaying Nazi imagery is illegal in Germany and can land offenders a three-year prison sentence.
Head of PR for Bethesda Softworks, Pete Hines, said all Nazi imagery and symbols have been removed from the game in Germany.
“Unlike films and other works of art, video games in Germany are forbidden to use such symbols and references as they are classified in Germany as toys and not media art.”
Instead of Nazis, the German version of the game has the Regime which is devoid of the Nazi symbolism, but will still have German accents, according to Gamespot.
