Home Gaming South Park not coming to all of Europe on Friday

South Park not coming to all of Europe on Friday

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South park the stick of truth

I am so, so ready for South Park: The Stick of Truth. Darryn raved about all the awesomeness in the game, and as a die hard South Park fan I simply have to play the game. However, some of my poor German friends will not be able to play it on Friday.

Germany has strong rules against the use of “symbols of unconstitutional organizations” (read: swastikas). I have German friends who weren’t even allowed to play with G.I. Joe as a kid because it glorified war. South Park is certainly irreverent and makes plenty of use of swastikas – and apparently sound clips from Hitler. It was predicted that this might cause some hiccups for German distribution, prompting VG247’s Dave Cook to get in touch with Ubisoft to ask about how they were dealing with this. They replied with:

with regards to the German version, all Nazi symbols have been removed from the game in accordance with German law.

Yet, somehow something has obviously gone wrong. According to Rock Paper Shotgun, the German Steam store page for South Park gives the following statement:

Notice: We’re sorry to inform you that we are unable to deliver your pre-ordered version of South Park: The Stick of Truth on March 6th as initially planned. The German and Austrian version of South Park: The Stick of Truth contains an unconstitutional symbol which means that we are unfortunately not able to release the game on the German and Austrian market at this time. This concerns all versions/platforms of the game. There is no need to amend or cancel your pre-order. A new release date of South Park: The Stick of Truth for the German and Austrian market will be announced shortly, and we will ensure that your order is delivered to coincide with this new date.

We are extremely sorry for the additional waiting time, and thank you for your understanding.

Hm, so was there confusion over censorship? Surely when they decided to delete scenes for the European market (viewable here thanks to our very own Darryn) they knew what was in the game that would need censoring? This is a known law in the German and Austrian market, much like age rating issues are known for Australia.

I’d say I’m surprised by this delay, but I suppose it’s hard to work around a way to make the game abide by these laws and still meet Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s standards for the game. You can’t just remove or censor the signs – it has to be be changed so that the game still has meaning and humor without them. I just hope they get their game soon – I’d hate to have to wait to play any longer than necessary.

Last Updated: March 5, 2014

14 Comments

  1. Alien Emperor Trevor

    March 5, 2014 at 13:24

    tee hee…

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Vegas

      March 5, 2014 at 13:25

      Vat arr yoo zinking about?

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      March 5, 2014 at 13:27

      Awesome movie!

      Reply

      • VampyreSquirrel

        March 5, 2014 at 13:30

        True story!

        Reply

  2. Unavengedavo(aka. Bilbo)

    March 5, 2014 at 13:31

    But the war has been over for almost 70 years, can’t people just get over it already? Why do they even bother with all this unnecessary censorship, it takes away of the content and you lose what they were originally trying to show O_o
    https://31.media.tumblr.com/abf44c8a1c4f921720b2a2b8f372c3eb/tumblr_n1kntkTGDl1toamj8o2_400.gif

    Reply

    • Kensei Seraph

      March 5, 2014 at 13:34

      Haha.

      Reply

      • Unavengedavo(aka. Bilbo)

        March 5, 2014 at 13:35

        Hehe or are we just not allowed to mention the war? 😛

        Reply

    • Lourens Jordaan

      March 5, 2014 at 15:06

      The problem is that they are a very proud people and find that part of their history extremely embarrassing and aggravating. This censorship of “unconstitutional” content affects not only media but also their education system. Personally I think it is a form of mass denial but it is something that I can understand (at least to an extent). How awesome would it be to have the very mention of apartheid outlawed?

      Reply

      • Unavengedavo(aka. Bilbo)

        March 5, 2014 at 15:38

        My comment was more of a joke and an excuse to use the gif :P… I would agree that it would be awesome if the very mention of apartheid was outlawed, that way our current government wouldn’t be able to use it as a scapegoat or to win votes. But on the other hand we shouldn’t just deny it in that way, because it is part of our history.

        Reply

        • Lourens Jordaan

          March 5, 2014 at 15:52

          And there you have it kids, a tale as old as time:”it would have been awesome” countered with a “but is it the right thing to do?”. Trying so hard to avoid one philosophy that you embrace another one that might be as harmful in the long run.

          Reply

  3. VampyreSquirrel

    March 5, 2014 at 13:54

    Is it just me or has the PC version disappeared off almost all of the SA sites?

    Reply

  4. Warren Lombard

    March 5, 2014 at 13:57

    My Steam download just finished. Now the wait!

    Reply

  5. Nix

    March 5, 2014 at 18:30

    Meh and I just moved to Germany 6 months ago, the cons of being in a first world country :/

    Reply

  6. Lando Calrissian

    March 9, 2014 at 10:12

    the quickest and most effective solution for german players can be found on tpb. and it will help them play the unbutchered version of the game. I don’t see why they’re such Nazis over the content of a video game.

    Reply

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