Wolfenstein 3D publisher recalls fight to distribute game in Germany — porn stores and plain packaging came to the rescue of 1990s FPS gamers

Wolfenstein 3D.

The publisher of Wolfenstein 3D has recalled the struggle to distribute copies of this seminal FPS game in Germany back in the early 1990s. Released as shareware by Apogee in 1992, the game was an instant hit around the globe, but the Nazi symbols and imagery clashed with Strafgesetzbuch section 86a, Germany’s postwar criminal code, which prohibited unconstitutional iconography.

As Sandy said, Wolf3D was hard to get to Germany, and Germany brought a lawsuit against Compuserve in 1992 trying to stop the distribution of the shareware version to Germany. But Apogee fought this (with our attorney, Charles Kramer) and eventually won, which to this day allows… https://t.co/5sDleSXvzcNovember 6, 2025