Call Of Duty: Vanguard Confirmed To Include Swastikas

Sledgehammer Games is on a cultural knife edge with Call of Duty: Vanguard, as the much-hyped return to the trenches of World War II has thrown up a few cultural stumbling blocks. The developer is well-versed in delivering WWII epics for the Call of Duty franchise, but when it comes to Vanguard, it's not as simple as just rolling out the same tanks again.

Following the divisive reception of last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Vanguard is turning out to be polarising for a very different reason. Namely, there are calls for the game's historical accuracy to be addressed.

Do Swastikas Appear In Call of Duty: Vanguard?

The writers have created characters that homage real-life soldiers like Sidney Cornell and Lyudmila Pavlichenko. However, with the team trying to promote a more immersive experience, it's led to an odd dilemma about whether swastikas will be included.

Swastikas are associated with the Nazi party, and until recently, were completely banned from video games in countries like Germany. Previously, titles have skirted around the issue by using different symbols to try and erase some of the murky past of the Third Reich when used in video games.

For example, swastikas were replaced with the Iron Cross in the interest of "cultural boundaries" when Sledgehammer released Call Of Duty: WWII in 2017. When it comes to Vanguard, there were a few raised eyebrows that some trailers seemed to feature the Nazi flag displaying the swastika. 

According to note leaker Tom Henderson, Vanguard will apparently include a "toggle swastika" feature, which is something we never thought we'd be writing about. It would explain why some marketing material appears to feature swastikas and others include the Iron Cross.

What Have Players Said About Swastikas In Vanguard?

Considering the Iron Cross has worked pretty well in place of swastikas, some think we should stick to censoring WWII-themed games. However, there is a growing number that think Vanguard and others should stop erasing the past and tell the story as history intended.

There are also concerns about how this could affect multiplayer if you have a whole squad of teammates dressed as the S.S. Ultimately, the option to choose whether you want to censor Nazi imagery is offering the best of both worlds.

One player wrote, "I do not get the point of deleting swastikas", while another said,"I think this is the best possible way to go about it. If you don't want to see it, turn it off. Love to see it. Can't wait". Discussing multiplayer, a third added, "I doubt Activision wants a bunch of their virtual player characters covered in swastikas. Especially in Cash-zone, I mean Warzone."

It's clear that most of those supporting the display of this iconography aren't supporting the Nazi party, however, things get a little murky the deeper you dive into the depths of the CoD community. We'll have to wait and see what is and isn't included when Vanguard releases on November 5, but to quote Indiana Jones, "Nazis, I hate these guys".