Nazi imagery is a big nein-nein in Germany, and the localized version of Wolfenstein was supposed to have removed all of it. A small swastika slipped through, and Activision is said to be recalling the game from shelves there.
The news, sourced back to 4players.de (translation) attributes a statement to Activision saying that "although it is not a conspicuous element in the normal game ... we have decided to take this game immediately from the German market."
Whether that means the content isn't in the game but is on the PC version for modders to exploit, or if it's a swastika as part of a background somewhere, who knows.
Planet Wolfenstein notes that the Wolfenstein teams from Endrant and Raven already have been laid off, putting a revised localization into doubt. Update: Raven's workforce reductions were across the board, not specifically targeting the Wolfenstein team.
Update: Via twitter, Kotaku reader Spunior pointed me back to one of the sites also linking to 4player.de. Schnitterbericht has a ton of screenshots showing differences in the U.S. and German versions of Wolfenstein. The final one (scroll alllllll the way down) shows a faint swastika at the bottom of a poster. If that really triggered a voluntary recall, Mein Gott in himmel!
We've emailed Activision for comment. Should any be provided, it'll be updated here.
Sell Stop in Germany [4players.de, via Blue's News]
DISCUSSION
Hey Germans, look at this. Take a good, hard look at it. What is it? Its an assortment of pixels that represent colors, all formed into a pattern. This picture itself originates as a set of harmless data.
Its been damn near 70 years. Russians haven't outlawed the Hammer and Sickle, yet they've killed almost as many as the Germans and had equally terrible ideas and policies. Why the fuck are you guys so sensitive about a simple image?
Your government needs to grow the fuck up and stop trying to sweep it all under the rug.