The strategy game “Hearts of Iron 4” (Steam) simulates the Second World War. A new DLC “Götterdämmerung” was released on November 14th; which focuses on Germany. Strategy expert Stephan “Steinwallen” Bliemel is usually responsible for discussing and accompanying such games in Germany. At Götterdämmerung he draws the line.
What kind of DLC is this? The DLC “Twilight of the Gods” focuses on Germany and its role in World War II. Here you revise the focus trees, in principle the research trees.
In addition, Germany is allowed to pursue alternative historical paths to fascism, for example towards a monarchy or a restored democracy.
But the “fascist-militarist path” is also being expanded further.
Hearts of Iron IV: Götterdämmerung – trailer for the new DLC
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The DLC received critical looks as soon as it was introduced
This is how the DLC was discussed at the presentation. The DLC “Twilight of the Gods” was presented in October 2024 and English-speaking PC gamers were already audibly gasping.
It’s about Nazis, but nowhere does anyone say Nazis and there isn’t a single swastika to be seen anywhere, but related symbols are everywhere.
Now the DLC has actually been released and the game goes very far in terms of presentation.
“The player can protect his favorite Nazi”
What bothers Steinwallen? The well-known German strategy expert Steinwallen says what bothers him. The DLC exceeds the boundaries of good taste, which is why he will not treat the DLC as usual and accompany it intensively, but will simply explain what he finds so problematic about the “Götterdämmerung” DLC.
Paradox has expanded Germany’s Historical Tech Tree with a mechanic that recreates the domestic politics of Nazi Germany, as Steinwallen explains.
You can use the “Inner Circle” game mechanic to unlock well-known Nazi greats such as Göring, Himmler and Göbbels.
Steinwallen says:
“The player can protect his favorite Nazis and turn them into Reich leaders to give them the opportunity to advance their own priorities.”
Steinwallen then reads out the description of Himmler in the game and criticizes the fact that the central role Himmler played in the Holocaust is completely ignored.
What has changed there? Steinwallen explains that Nazis appeared in Hearts of Iron before the expansion, but they were still shown without portraits and they had little influence on the game. The new DLC has now made the Nazis part of the game. There would also be no option to disable portraits.
This is its consequence: Steinwallen says the military-strategic simulation of World War II has always been difficult because the Germans’ war of aggression was also a war of annihilation.
With the DLC, Steinwallen reached his personal limit: he could no longer explain new game mechanics in a cursory manner without having images of extermination camps or mountains of corpses in his mind’s eye.
He doesn’t criticize anyone who buys the game, but he can’t promote the game as a content creator.
He has deactivated the monetization of the video and will no longer report on the DLC. He doesn’t yet know how he’ll deal with Hearts of Iron 4.
Does his protest have any effect? Steinwallen’s video is currently the most discussed post in the Hearts of Iron reddit (568 comments) and also in the Paradox forum. So the video will definitely reach Paradox. A reaction from the developers is still pending.