Commandos 2 HD Remaster has been review-bombed on Steam after censoring Nazi imagery in the game, with its publisher stating that it would be removing “symbols, portraits, speeches [and] other assets” in order to avoid breaking the law in certain countries.
The Steam page for Commandos 2 HD Remaster has been inundated with complaints regarding the move, which publisher Kalypso insisting that the removal of Nazi imagery and references is due to the company not wanting to run afoul of international laws.
In a post on Steam, community manager ‘Unerde’ wrote (via PlayStation LifeStyle):
“there will only be one version of Commandos 2 HD Remaster internationally, and it will not incorporate any symbols, portraits, speeches or other assets that could break the law in many countries.
As a company, we are obliged to adhere to the law, but we want our users to have the best experience with our games without causing potential delays or even being banned in certain countries.
Therefore, we have decided on this course of action so that we will not be forced to split up groups of players or be unable to provide the game to specific regions at all.”
However, players have taken to the Commandos 2 Steam store page to express their disapproval of this statement. While many reviews also cite performance problems as the reasoning behind their negative reviews, it’s clear that the backlash surrounding Unerde’s comment has caused an influx of criticisms.
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“Shameless cash grab! Kalypso should be ashamed of themselves for hiring such incompetent developers who decided to censor a beloved WW2 game,” one review reads.
“The developers have imposed self-censorship in regards to Nazi imagery and refuse to either make new versions for non-German players or apply for Nazi imagery approval through the correct German channels (Which is readily available since 2018),” another review reads. “All Nazi imagery is removed despite the advertisment that this is an authentic WW2 game.”
Commandos 2 HD now sits on a “mixed” rating on Steam, with many reviews pouring in after the controversy surrounding the removal of the Nazi images started to gain traction. In terms of fixes for the bugs and performance issues (of which there are reportedly many), the devs are working on a patch that will make game improvements based on the feedback they’ve received thus far.
Germany previously didn’t allow Nazi imagery to appear in works of entertainment outside of their use for educational purposes, though the country overturned this ban back in 2018. Previously, games like the Wolfenstein series would have to censor swastikas and even Hitler’s mustache in order to get around the law, though this is no longer the case in 2019.
