Remember when the American government banned racist symbols like the Confederate Flag after the Civil War, because flying a sign that was used by a racist party isn't progressive? No? That's because it didn't happen. Meanwhile, in Germany, the government has had strict rules set in place to prosecute anyone who flys the symbols of a racist party that left their country in turmoil as well, the Nazis. It has been illegal for Nazi symbols to appear in entertainment in particular for decades in Germany. Now, according to CNN, they are lifting that ban.
The Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK) announced on Thursday that they would allow Nazi symbols in video games. The decision comes after the game Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was heavily edited in Germany. The story takes place in an alternate reality where the Nazi's won, and an aged Hitler's mustache was edited out and all swastikas were replaced with triangles. Call of Duty: Black Ops, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade are other titles that were heavily edited to remove Nazi symbols. The symbols will still be illegal in the country, but the ban will allow games to show the symbols if there is a historical purpose behind it.
"Through the change in the interpretation of the law, games that critically look at current affairs can for the first time be given a USK age rating," stated the managing director of USK, Elisabeth Secker. "This has long been the case for films and with regards to the freedom of the arts, this is now rightly also the case with computer and video games."