Interestingly, in addition to the classification of the game in Germany, the legal text on Steam has also been changed. According to the Wolfenstein 3D SteamDB page, we can see that lines have been added suggesting that the game`s story «should not be interpreted as glorifying the beliefs or actions of the Nazi regime.» It`s hard to imagine how a game about shooting Nazis in the face and killing Hitler could be considered a glorification of Nazism, but hey. As far as we can judge (although we`re not in Germany, of course), Wolfenstein 3D was released in Germany without any changes. It could be that the game is old enough to be considered harmless now, or it could simply be that attitudes towards video games are changing in Germany. Time will tell, but one thing is certain for now: German players can finally experience Wolfenstein 3D legally. Hurrah! But all that has changed now. Thanks to the USK ranking and changes in the game`s availability, the people of Germany can now legally join us in defeating Mecha-Hitler (opens in a new window) and save the world from the scourge of fascism. And this with only 30 years of delay. The new description, on the other hand, is a bit more standard. It reads like this. The negative reception of censorship by The New Colossus prompted Germany to relax its censorship law in 2018.
Now, games with Nazi images can be submitted for review on a case-by-case basis. Wolfenstein: Youngblood was released unchanged in Germany in 2019 with an associated age restriction label. Okay, the first FPS of 1992 is not new to you, but people in Germany have not been able to buy the game since it was effectively banned from sale in 1994 due to the inclusion of Nazi symbols. That ban — and a more recent one for the 1997 Spear Of Destiny expansion — was finally lifted in 2019 (opens in a new window), but German gamers still couldn`t really get their hands on the games because they hadn`t received an age rating from the German entertainment software self-regulatory (USK). When it came time for MachineGames to restart the Wolfenstein franchise in 2014, Wolfenstein: The New Order was released in Germany, but with major changes. Nazi symbols such as swastikas were removed and all references to the Nazi regime were simply replaced with «the regime». The same was true for 2017`s successor Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, in which Hitler appeared memorable. It must not have been fun trying to change.
Video: Wolfenstein: The New Order censored version comparison [Eurogamer] MORE: Predicting which games might be in the Xbox/Bethesda storefront this summer Bethesda confirmed that Wolfenstein: Youngblood will not be censored for the German market thanks to a regulatory change last year. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, as mentioned above, is an open-source multiplayer title originally released in 2003 by previous series publisher Activision and developer Splash Damage. The game was originally planned as an expansion for 2001`s Return to Castle Wolfenstein before being released as a multiplayer game only. A single-player option was also planned, but development issues led Splash Damage to focus development time and resources on multiplayer. Another version of the game was created with the international release, which would have met the old standards had the rules not changed in August 2018. Both products will be available in Germany at the launch of Youngblood on July 26. Now, however, the USK has given Wolfenstein 3D and its Spear of Destiny expansion, which was released the same year as the original game, a rating. Wolfenstein 3D`s rating is 16, but only 18-year-olds can play Spear of Destiny. German PC players can now grab Wolfenstein 3D on Steam, as Twitter user The Kinsie points out, and the game and its expansion are also available on the Microsoft Store and GOG.com. It`s worth noting that there has been a bit of confusion around Wolfenstein`s availability in the past. German news sites and several German Reddit and forum users are happy to be able to «finally» easily buy Wolfenstein 3D, but a few confused viewers swear they bought a copy of the game in Germany from sites like GOG. On the other hand, there are old GOG (opens in a new tab) threads of Germans who want to get a copy of the game to bypass German buying restrictions.
Regardless, even if it had been possible – in some respects under the radar – to buy the games in Germany before, it shouldn`t have been under German law. This article is about an endgame scene, so if you`re shy about spoilers, check back after you arrive. Article 86a of the German Criminal Code prohibits the use of Nazi symbols in the context of denazification of the country after World War II. This law includes not only symbols such as the swastika, but also gestures such as the Hitler salute. It does not explicitly prohibit depictions of Adolf Hitler, but nevertheless Hitler`s appearance in Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus was censored: they removed his mustache.