INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightBethesdaFor the first time since a long-time ban was overturned last year, a game featuring Nazi symbols and characters is
about to come out in Germany.Wolfenstein: Youngblood will be released on 26 July.Previously, German editions of Wolfenstein games changed
Hitler's name and replaced swastikas.But thanks to rules being relaxed last year, German gamers will now get to play the uncensored
international version when it's released next month.Image copyrightBethesdaImage caption
In the German edition, the
swastika is replaced with an inverted triangle
The Wolfenstein games are set in an alternative reality where Germany wins
the Second World War.The latest game is set in the year 1980, and features twins searching Paris for their missing father.Two different
versions of the game will be released in Germany: an international one which will feature the swastika and a German one which won't.In an
online FAQ, the makers of the game confirmed that edition will be "fully sanitized."They'd developed two different versions because they
weren't sure the ban would end in time for the scheduled release date.Image copyrightBethesdaGerman law considers symbols like the swastika
and gestures such as the Nazi salute "symbols of anti-constitutional organisations."Displaying them publicly is illegal.However, there are
exceptions where the symbols are used in education, for instance, or for artistic purposes.So the Amazon series The Man in the High Castle,
which similarly focuses on an alternate history of World War II, was shown in Germany thanks to that loophole.Image copyrightBethesdaImage
caption
The alternative, Nazi-controlled Paris featured in Wolfenstein: Youngblood
A previous title in
the Wolfenstein series, The New Colossus, featured Adolf Hitler as a character.But in the German release, his title had been changed from
rating body USK said the rules will now be applied to video games in the same way they are used for films
On a case-by-case basis, a game could get past the rating procedure if an artistic or dramatic use is justified.It does mean that any
further games in the Wolfenstein series may not necessarily follow suit.Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.Listen
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