Until recently, videogames released in Germany were not allowed having any imagery linked to Nazis, such as swastikas on flags or uniforms, or referencing Hitler.
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Until very recently, videogames released in Germany were not allowed to reference or contain any Nazi material, such as swastikas on flags and uniforms of soldiers, or referencing Hitler. This lead to two different versions for games containing such things, one for Germany where all the problematic content was censored, and a version for the rest of the world. The latest big budget game to release this way was Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, although smaller games with Nazi imagery have been released since then. In Wolfenstein II, Hitler’s moustache was removed, swastikas were replaced by triangles, and the use of “Fuhrer” replaced by “Chancellor”.
This decision was made by the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK) the 9th of August, although each game will have to be examined independently. If the purpose of displaying Nazi imagery is, for example, for propaganda reasons, then the game is still not allowed to.
Overall, not much has changed, as the law is still the same: displaying Nazi or other banned symbols remains illegal, but videogames are now considered art, just as movies and books, therefore, if the USK approves it, a game can now display Nazi refences.
