The survival action RPG Enshrouded is a surprising success on Steam right now. The game comes from the developer studio Keen Games from Frankfurt. As has now become known, there is a controversial Easter egg hidden in the game: The former house of the influencer Rainer “Drachenlord” Winkler, the “Drachenschanze” is recreated in the game in great detail. Some people find this funny, others reject it as bullying.
What kind of game is this?
Enshrouded: The early access trailer for the new survival hit on Steam
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House of the Dragon Lord, the “Drachenschanze”, in the Steam hit
Some users noticed this: In one part of the game world of Enshrouded, the former house of the influencer Rainer Winkler is clearly recreated in detail.
This wasn’t put there by a player, but is part of the world of Enshrouded and came from the developers themselves.
Why is this problematic? The influencer Rainer Winkler is considered a prime example of a form of online controversy that has now lost all center and measure and has become a case of bullying and a hunt.
A group of people on the Internet, so-called “Drachenhaiders”, find it amusing or cultish to observe the influencer, visit him and comment on his work ironically, sarcastically or insultingly.
The “Dragon Game” consisted of driving to Winkler’s house at the time (“the Drachenschanze”), whose address was known for a long time, harassing him and having fun when Winkler freaked out and screamed.
The “haters” feel morally right because Winkler is a bad person who has already done a lot of wrongdoing. People make a lot of fun about some of his statements, about language errors or the dialect.
Journalists specializing in the Internet such as Sascha Lobo (via spiegel) have dealt intensively with Rainer Winkler. Lobo wrote in 2021 that Winkler had been tormented, threatened and harassed by a mob for years.
When Winkler fought back and became violent, a court found him guilty. Lobo called the handling of him a catastrophic failure of the judiciary, media and society.
What is the reaction to the house in Enshrouded? The “hater” community finds the house in Enshrouded incredibly funny and amuses itself in videos about the depiction of the house, explains individual rooms and imagines what other sound effects there could be over the pictures. We describe in detail the words that could be used to send a Winkler off the property in this or that room.
One is amused by the fact that there are also obvious “haters” in the Frankfurt studio Keen Games.
But there are also isolated voices that view it critically. A negative review of “Enshrouded” on Steam states that this Easter egg would fuel the unspeakable bullying against Drachenlord. Winkler must also be prosecuted for a number of things, but that should be done through the rule of law, not through a bunch of bullies. “No one deserves to be bullied. Absolutely no one.”
17 people found the review helpful and 55 people found it funny, which shows the problem with the whole situation.
MeinMMO asked the developers of Enshrouded for a statement. We will submit it as soon as we have it.
You can read our assessment of Enshrouded here: A new survival game from Germany could be the next Steam hit, but it just has one big problem