Nazis have taken over the streets in America, at least they have in the upcoming Bethesda game "Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus," the newest game in a series dedicated to killing Nazis. Bethesda has drawn some attention to themselves in the marketing of the game when the trailer released on Twitter stated "Make America Nazi-Free Again," alongside #NoMoreNazis as its hashtag.
Make America Nazi-Free Again. #NoMoreNazis #Wolf2 pic.twitter.com/52OESypw4P
— Wolfenstein (@wolfenstein) October 5, 2017
Bethesda's not backing down
In an interview with GameIndustry, Bethesda's vice president of marketing and PR, Pete Hines, told the website, "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."
He told them that even though the game may share some similarities to recent events (such as, Nazis marching in the streets), the game was never intended to be a political commentary about what is currently going on.
The "Wolfenstein" series has been around since 1981 and has always carried the theme that Nazis are evil.
However, some people have taken issue with the marketing of the new game, saying things like, "way to make it political, not buyin," and "Cool didn't know Bethesda teamed with SJWs and ANTIFA!"
Pete Hines feels as though it is the right choice to continue the run the trailer with the slogan and hashtag in place. He told GameIndustry, "This is what our game is about. It's what this franchise has always been about... When it comes to Nazis, you can put us down in the 'against' column."
imagine seeing the words "no more nazis" and reacting like this pic.twitter.com/5L9b8CPm3s
— Vylash #TeamKICK (@MiraVylash) October 6, 2017
He feels as though the game at its core has always been about killing Nazis, and that it is something fundamental to the series.
He believes that it is "undebatable" that Nazis are bad, and said that he doesn't worry about losing customers due to the trailers slogan.
The takeaway
Video games have always tried to remain trendy, but the using of current political slogans may have been what caused this backlash against the game. Other games, namely the "Call of Duty" series with its Nazi zombie play mode, have not drawn the anger of people previously when tackling topics such as Nazis.
The original "Wolfenstein" game was released in 1981 but didn't go mainstream until the release of "Wolfenstein 3D" in 1994. Bethesda acquired the franchise in 2014 and tweaked the gameplay to fit their model of gaming, like the "Elder Scrolls" series, and the "Fallout" series. The newest game in the series, "Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus," is set to release October 27.