According to a reliable insider, Call Of Duty 2021 will not censor the swastika, a symbol that has been synonymous with the Nazi movement since World War II.
The upcoming Call Of Duty - reportedly codenamed Vanguard - is being developed by Sledgehammer Games and is believed to be another World War II shooter. Sledgehammer's last instalment, 2017's Call Of Duty: WWII, did not include swastikas in multiplayer the interests of respecting "cultural boundaries".
"We've wrestled with the topic of Nazi iconography, including the swastika, throughout the course of development," Sledgehammer co-founder Michael Condrey told Forbes at the time.
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"There are, of course, cultural boundaries that we felt we needed to respect. And we also wanted to be authentic in our approach to game design. It's a fine balance of not glorifying the symbolism, while also not ignoring or shying away from this dark moment in human history. There's certainly a line that we are very conscious not to cross, while still honoring the sacrifice of those who fought to push back the world from the brink of tyranny. In short, it's not something we take lightly."
With this in mind, it's surprising to learn that Call Of Duty 2021 may well include the controversial symbol. Industry insider Tom Henderson, a leaker with a proven track record when it comes to Battlefield and Call Of Duty, recently shared a bunch of new information regarding the in-development game.
Among tweets teasing the number of maps (24) and a "dynamic weather system", Henderson tweeted that "time to be historically accurate". He then added "no more...", followed by a picture of the Iron Cross - which has historically been used in place of the swastika.
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Take this with a pinch of salt for now. While Henderson has proven himself time and time again this past year, I do find it a little hard to believe Activision would allow players to run around with swastikas in a massive online multiplayer shooter. It could well be that Henderson is simply referring to Call Of Duty 2021's campaign rather than the multiplayer, but we'll have to wait and see.
Featured Image Credit: ActivisionTopics: GAMING, News, Call of Duty, Activision
