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Wolfenstein 2 is gearing up for its release this October 27th, stirring up quite the controversy in its wake. It seems that despite the countless video games in which players are pitted against Nazis, people are riled up at the in-game political messages found within Bethesda’s upcoming title.
The controversy built after the Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus Twitter account posted a new teaser video, captioned with a twist to Donald Trump’s presidential slogan: “Make America Nazi-Free Again.”
This has prompted backlash from Bethesda’s more conservative fans who take offence to the association between the historical travesty and the modern day president. The outbursts originated on Twitter, commenting on the same post with things like “Oh wow, what a clever marketing trick: tapping into hysterical leftist power fantasy” and “Cool. Didn’t know Bethesda teamed with SJWs and ANTIFA!”
Make America Nazi-Free Again. #NoMoreNazis #Wolf2 pic.twitter.com/52OESypw4P
— Wolfenstein (@wolfenstein) October 5, 2017
Of course, this wasn’t bound to Twitter for long, with slander for the company appearing across all social media sites, particularly in various subreddits. This angst towards real-life association didn’t originate from the Twitter post, however, with many fans taking issue with how the media is portraying the title’s political relevance to the modern day.
Developers MachineGames has constantly maintained that this game isn’t political commentary on real world events, but a depiction of alternative history and that’s it. Despite this, Bethesda has stated in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that it is aware of the relevance the game has since the rise of white nationalism has risen in the US and other Western territories.
“We’re certainly aware of current events in America and how they relate to some of the themes in Wolfenstein II,” said vice president of public relations and marketing at Bethesda, Pete Hines. “Wolfenstein has been a decidedly anti-Nazi series since the first release more than 20 years ago. We aren’t going to shy away from what the game is about. We don’t feel it’s a reach for us to say Nazis are bad and un-American, and we’re not worried about being on the right side of history here.”
“That was definitely not something we anticipated. We started writing the script in 2014 right after we released the first one,” explained creative director Jens Matthies in an interview with GameSpot. “Somehow things have gotten strangely topical. Which of course is not something we anticipated or feel especially good about. That's the way it is, I guess.”
KitGuru Says: I know many gamers take issue with real world relevance of games nowadays, but some find that it gives a good platform to talk about current issues for those that would otherwise ignore situations around them. Do you think that Bethesda made a blunder by trying to make its in-game world “Nazi-Free Again?”
Over react much The only ones that should have issue is actual nazi’s and why would we feel sorry for nazi’s everyone else should be happy we want the nazi’s in the game to die nasty deaths..That’s the way it was meant to be played….lol Everyone needs to take a chill pill they were not dissing German people as a whole just the Nazi’s of the past and if there are still some out there today as well I guess.
You said everything I was going to.
oh god, trump’s going to tweet about this isn’t he?
It’s pretty fucked up that some Americans get angry when people say ‘Nazis are bad.’
Yea I was trying to say it as to not offend anyone and still get some sort of point across.
Who would you offend? The Nazi’s? Ha.
I hate people. Game will be awesome. Nazis are bad, but people are free to wear whatever symbols we please and play whatever video games we like in the U.S., that’s part of what makes this place so great. I’m not a liberal, and I approve this message.
Everyone have the right to complain..except Nazis they are people
it’s more about the fact that the left is branding everyone Nazis and it’s a dangerous game. You can lose your job, your reputation, your life, over what a random person has said. To use that sort of tension to promote your game is not a great move.
I for one am not going to appologise for offending nazi’s. Its just a discrace that they still exist in one of the very countries who fought against them.
First note to make. I did not vote for Trump. Thad said. “Make America Nazi-Free Again” is actually the problem here. Given the political climate, those who have worn MAGA hats and those supportive of Trump have been called supporters of genocide, as racists, as being Nazi’s, etc. People who aren’t Nazi’s are being labeled as such.
It’s not the game, it’s the marketing.
Honestly, I think it’s a problem you can’t go paraphrasing the president and reference it to Nazi’s. Not okay.
Yes, imagine a nightmare world where you can face consequences for things you have literally said and done.
The game might be conflating its Nazis with the Trump administration, but why are they so easily conflatable? No one’s calling Macron a Nazi, or Merkel, or Corbyn, or Putin, or Xi, or May… and besides, even those who voted for the Nazi party weren’t Nazis. You had to actually join the party.