Well, can't say I'm surprised, no? Or is that "nien"?
Bethesda, on its official blog, has alerted Wolfenstein fans that the upcoming The New Order will not be available in Germany, either as a physical or digital copy, for its use of Nazi symbolism. According to German law, "a violation may result in confiscation of the Game, a high financial penalty of up to three years in prison." They're not screwing around.
On top of that, digital international versions will be geo-locked such that they cannot be activated in Germany. And "on the basis of legal advice and industry standard practice," the same policy will be enacted for Austria as well.
The German language-adapted version with changes made only to the "Nazi content only" will be available for sale through select retailers and distributors in the aforementioned countries.
In some part in the back of my imagination, when Germany passed the law, some politician probably stepped up to a podium in some government building somewhere and held up examples of what they wanted to ban. Wolfenstein must have been one of them.
