Wolfenstein PC Recalled in Germany

News
By published

Activision Germany pulled Wolfenstein PC from German shelves.

Planet Wolfenstein is reporting that Activision Blizzard has recalled the German version of the just-released Wolfenstein PC game. According to the site, German retailers must yank the game from store shelves, as apparently verboten (forbidden) content--possibly swastika images or other Nazi-related material--has somehow slipped into the German version.

The news echoes the controversy surrounding the original 1994 classic Wolfenstein 3-D in which Germany banned the shooter because of Nazi-related content. However, in this case, there's no official word on why the company pulled the game, however Activision Blizzard is expected to release an official statement within the next few days.

But as Planet Wolfenstein points out, the PC version received an average score and landed somewhat lackluster sales upon its initial release. Once the game hit the streets, the teams from both Endrant and Raven were laid off, so getting a corrected version suitable for German scrutiny may be somewhat difficult.

Recently developer Crytek has threatened to move its facility out of Germany due to the country's proposed anti-games law that would ban the production and distribution of violent video games where "the main part is to realistically play the killing of people or other cruel or un-human acts of violence against humans or manlike characters." Activision Blizzard's recent recall of Wolfenstein could be related to the proposed banning, however current speculation points to the Nazi-related issue instead.

Kevin Parrish
32 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Shadow703793
    Why? History is in the past. Get over it.
    Reply
  • doomtomb
    This is actually quite common. It's sad to see that the world's 4th largest economy has a fucked up government just like many other parts of the world....
    Reply
  • maigo
    It was edited for Germany where they removed most of the Nazis? How did they manage that?
    Reply
  • Major7up
    Why does this make me think of Australia banning Left 4 Dead 2?
    Reply
  • B-Unit
    maigoIt was edited for Germany where they removed most of the Nazis? How did they manage that?Removed most of theswastika images or other Nazi-related material
    Killing Nazis is fine, just as long as they don't dress like Nazis...
    Reply
  • maigo
    B-UnitRemoved most of theswastika images or other Nazi-related materialKilling Nazis is fine, just as long as they don't dress like Nazis...but... but the WHOLE story is 'evil-Nazis must die because they're evil-Nazis', the only way to make people think the oppressive evil guys are NOT Nazis is to put the story in Russia or make them cuddly hamsters
    Reply
  • In Germany there is a discussion going on about the reasons for the brutalization of the youth leading to amok runs as the ultimate result. So they try to keep the appearance of violence in movies and games under controll. In the US its nudity and sex. You can argue which has more negative influence on underaged kids.
    There is also a law against the usage of Nazi-symbolic due historical reasons which shall prevent the regain of strengh of neofascistic groups in Germany.
    So it's not surprising that Wolfenstein has a hard stand in Germany. What's more infuriating is - like demonhorde already said - the fact that both teams were fired right away. Although I almost hope it fires back and prevents the publishing of this mindless game in Germany.

    Reply
  • gorehound
    so they want to ban wolfenstein well the german gamers know that bittorrent will never ban them from having fun.

    another reason why piracy works
    Reply
  • What's truly sad is there are still people in this world that still think that being German automatically makes one a Nazi.

    That is so Not True.

    There are two types of Nazi, both of which are bad. The Nazi political Party (does it still exist?), Then there were Hitler's henchmen, the SS which were the elite troops, the Guestoppo and others who were direct followers of Hitler.

    The rest were nothing more than German Soldiers following orders and civilians who did what they had to to get by during the war. If you refused to Sieg Heil, you were shunned or worse. My Grandmother was German and she refused to Sieg Heil throughout the war.

    Hitler and the Nazi Political party did a lot to harm to Germany's proud heritage.

    Is it no wonder that they don't want any direct reminders of that terrible time?

    Germany has a lot to be proud of and has given a lot to the world. But Germany does not need to be constantly reminded of what Hitler and the Nazi party did years ago.

    The Nazi past desperately needs to be put to rest permanently so the German people and the rest of the world can live a little more peacefully.

    Wolfenstein is meant to be an entertaining game.

    Let's just leave it at that.


    BTW.....

    I didn't mean to go on like this, but when it comes to Germany, Hitler and Nazis are a real sore point for me because of what they did to Deutschland and the rest of the world.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    Renegade_WarriorBTW.....I didn't mean to go on like this, but when it comes to Germany, Hitler and Nazis are a real sore point for me because of what they did to Deutschland and the rest of the world.
    What was done back then sure was sad and shit, but remember that the losing party is always the bad guys. Had the alliance somehow lost, the camps with japanese might've been the spotlight instead of the slaughter of jews. It comes down to politics really. And right now it's politicians that want to erradicate the events from their past. Not much one can do about it really.
    Reply