"We made a series of mistakes": GOG apologise for emailing Nazi symbols to people in newsletter about Slavic fantasy game

Said game's devs anticipation the concern "will marque radical much alert of the past and modern meanings of these symbols"

Retro-focused crippled sellers GOG person apologised aft sending retired a newsletter featuring runes which person agelong served arsenic Nazi symbols. The symbols appeared successful the taxable for an email promoting The End of the Sun, an escapade crippled astir a Slavic occurrence mage who besides dabbles successful clip manipulation.

As shown successful the station below, the email's taxable enactment followed the operation "Slavic adventure" with 4 runes. The last 2 tin beryllium interpreted arsenic Proto-Germanic Sowilō runes symbolising the prima oregon arsenic a treble Siegrune, the awesome of the Nazi German Schutzstaffel (SS) and 1 subsequently adopted by aboriginal achromatic supremacists and neo-Nazis. GOG are calling it an "unfortunate ocular association".

"We are atrocious for today’s newsletter," the storerunners wrote successful a station enactment up connected June 5th. "We made a bid of mistakes: We created an unfortunate ocular relation by placing the runes incorrectly, we utilized the incorrect logo for The End of the Sun, we did not cheque the show of the newsletter connected mobile devices - which came retired worse - and we didn’t larboard the feedback from our German QA to different languages. While fractional our email basal received this email, we stopped the send-out arsenic soon arsenic we noticed the error. We are present revising our reappraisal process to enforce much checks and drawback these mistakes earlier."

On Reddit, an unidentified GOG typical painted a little vague representation of what happened, penning the following:

The Sowilo rune is portion of my taste and humanities heritage. As a Pole, I americium afloat alert of some its past and the sensitivities surrounding it. Its usage successful this promotion was intended solely arsenic a notation to the sun, which is cardinal to the crippled being promoted. What was displayed successful respective devices arsenic doppelrune is retired of our control. ᛋ was displayed arsenic ϟ connected respective devices (might show for you otherwise present arsenic good conscionable letting you know). We should wage much attraction to checking it connected antithetic systems and devices. I besides recognise that placing 2 specified runes adjacent to each different could make an unfortunate relation with symbols utilized by the Nazi regime. This was noticed earlier distribution, and retired of respect for section sensitivities, the worldly was not sent to the German community.

At the aforesaid time, I bash not judge that symbols with a past spanning much than a 1000 years should beryllium defined solely by their misuse successful the modern history. Allowing that would mean accepting that those who corrupted these symbols present ain their meaning. As a Pole, I person each crushed to dainty this past with seriousness and respect. Precisely due to the fact that of that, I cull immoderate proposition that this promotion carried an extremist message. It did not. It was a notation to the humanities awesome of the sun, thing more.

The End of the Sun's developers, a Polish mates going by Kinga and Kuba, person since posted their ain lengthy connection addressing the newsletter controversy, successful which they emphasise that they've got nary connections to neo-nazis.

"First of all, we bash not usage immoderate SS symbols oregon 'the Nazi swastika' successful the game," they wrote. "At 1 constituent successful the game, we explicate that the swastika was an past awesome (still utilized contiguous successful India, for example) that was aboriginal adapted by the Nazis, but we were wholly definite we did not privation to usage those circumstantial symbols successful our game. In the newsletter, GOG placed the SS awesome adjacent to the operation 'Slavic adventure', which makes things adjacent worse. GOG besides mistakenly utilized our aged logo.

"We privation to emphasise that arsenic developers, we person perfectly nary power implicit however GOG's newsletters look. We presume idiosyncratic astatine GOG simply wanted to adhd immoderate 'cool' looking Slavic symbols without beforehand checking what those symbols mean successful modern culture. Unfortunately, these mistakes created a horrible impression, linking some our crippled and Slavic civilization arsenic a full to a terrifying ideology. Even though we had nary portion successful creating this newsletter, we are highly atrocious for this misunderstanding, arsenic we consciousness a consciousness of work for however Slavic civilization is promoted aft dedicating the past fewer years to it."

As for wherefore GOG utilizing the aged logo was a mistake, the developers explained that the earlier logo plan contained a kolovrat - different Slavic rune related to the prima that has go linked to the Swastika, the astir recognisable awesome of Nazism. A awesome resembling the kolovrat appears successful the GOG email taxable line.

"Yes, we utilized the Kolovrat awesome successful the game, but we treated it arsenic a awesome of the 'God of the Sun' oregon simply the 'Sun'," the developers wrote. "In the game, we adjacent admit arsenic a trivia information that immoderate past symbols were co-opted by the Nazis, but we ne'er utilized the Nazi swastika oregon the treble S symbol. Our kolovrat awesome was based connected humanities sources of past statues."

The devs continued that they opted to alteration the logo awesome to a much guiltless rosette plan past year, claiming that pushback from imaginable reviewers "especially successful Russia and Germany" made them alert of the symbol's Nazi links.