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Bethesda: "When It Comes To Nazis, You Can Put Us Down In The 'Against' Column"
Since its reveal at Bethesda's 2017 E3 show, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus has attracted fair amount of attention and, even before it's released, courted controversy. Despite being the latest iteration in 20 year-plus video game series about killing nazis, The New Colossus has received criticism for having a political left-wing bias, as noted by the responses to this Bethesda's latest marketing push for the game, with the hashtag #NoMore Nazis.
Pete Hines, Vice President for Public Relations and Marketing at Bethesda, went on record with GamesIndustry.biz. to spell out the publisher's views on nazis (in case it wasn't obvious). "Wolfenstein has been a decidedly anti-Nazi series since the first release more than 20 years ago, Hines says. "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."
"In Wolfenstein's case," he goes on to say, "it's pure coincidence that Nazis are marching in the streets of America this year. And it's disturbing that the game can be considered a controversial political statement at all."
You can read the full interview over at GamesIndustry.biz.
For more on Wolfenstein, be sure to check out our rundown on the history of the series here.
Our Take
Depending on who you ask, The New Colossus has found itself either in one of easiest marketing campaigns in the history of video games or at the center of unfortunate controversy given the tragic events of Charlottesville and similar political rallies where men and women marched waving flags with swastikas. Either way, Hines is correct: the crux of Wolfenstein has always been about killing Nazis. For the game's marketing not to lean into that, regardless of current events, is an absurd expectation.
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