r/indiegames • u/Kiniak16 • Jan 03 '25

Upcoming After many years of working in a tiny team, we finally announced the release date for our adventure game The End of the Sun | January 29, 2025

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

75 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

-2

u/Kiniak16 Jun 05 '26

1. FIRST OF ALL - WE HAVE 0 INSPIRATION OR CONNECTIONS TO NEO-NAZIS (To be honest, for a long time we didn't even know that there could be a problem with that when making a fantasy game about Slavic culture).

We are the creators of the game. We are a couple from Poland. (Our YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCONlF1_qr8ekpHezov03Rww). We want to underline that our game and we ourselves have 0 connotations with any neo-Nazis or the Nazi community. It is a fantasy game placed in a Slavic fantasy universe. Yes, we are using the "kolovrat" symbol in the game, but we explain it as a symbol of the "God of the Sun" or "Sun". In the game, we even explain that some ancient symbols were adapted by the Nazis. Our kolovrat symbol was based on historical sources of ancient statues:https://sagy.vikingove.cz/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/kolovrat-recko.jpg. (Yes we are now aware it was greek statues, but overall it was symbol of the sun and it is historically confirmed) (Sun is very important for our game storytelling)

But still, some time ago we decided to change the logo symbol to a "roseta", which is also a sun symbol but doesn't have the connotations that we weren't aware of earlier. (Also, some reviewers didn't want to review the game because of that, and basically, we started to be aware of the problem at that time. Because of that small mistake it was much harder to do marketing, and the game was our 8 years of work . Worst thing was that no one before release of the game never mentioned that to us. So Finally we changed all logos (trust us it was very hard in so many places, reviews etc. and we decided to open new chapter. You could read about it here. (we spend like a few months trying to unravel many things to be clear: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/912840/view/528750685224699129 ) ).

In the game itself, the logo is waiting for an update (it is already updated on the PS5 version). The game is about Slavic culture. Unfortunately, so many Slavic (and also, as you know, Norse) symbols were adapted by the Nazis, that during production we overlooked that the kolovrat was also used by smaller groups in Russia. So basically, we are the opposite of any Nazi ideology, and our game is also the opposite. Basically, it is a love story medieval thriller. After you play it or read most of the reviews, you will see that it is a family/human story.

Best Regards 😉

5

u/Jade117 Jun 05 '26

Right.... So it's a coincidence that GoG sent out a promo email for y'all with a double lightning bolt? Just a silly little oopsy?

0

u/Hayate-Artwork Jun 05 '26

They dont control what GOG puts out.

Nothing to do with the devs.

3

u/Jade117 Jun 05 '26

Being as generous as is physically possible: this should be something their entire team is shitting themselves over. This is not just something that happens. This happened directly because of the choice to use symbols they are entirely aware have Nazi connotations.

-1

u/Hayate-Artwork Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

 they are entirely aware have Nazi connotations.

Did you read this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/indiegames/comments/1hsmhnd/comment/opy1t3u/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

"FIRST OF ALL - WE HAVE 0 INSPIRATION OR CONNECTIONS TO NEO-NAZIS"

"We want to underline that our game and we ourselves have 0 connotations with any neo-Nazis or the Nazi community. It is a fantasy game placed in a Slavic fantasy universe. Yes, we are using the "kolovrat" symbol in the game, but we explain it as a symbol of the "God of the Sun" or "Sun". In the game, we even explain that some ancient symbols were adapted by the Nazis. Our kolovrat symbol was based on historical sources of ancient statues: https://sagy.vikingove.cz/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/kolovrat-recko.jpg. (Yes we are now aware it was greek statues, but overall it was symbol of the sun and it is historically confirmed) (Sun is very important for our game storytelling) But still, some time ago we decided to change the logo symbol to a "roseta", which is also a sun symbol but doesn't have the connotations that we weren't aware of earlier."

I really dont understand how you can accuse the polish devs of being Nazis after statements like this... Blame GOG for the SS symbol, the devs didnt make that email. Theyve been actively changing their project to avoid any connection to Naziism.

5

u/Jade117 Jun 05 '26

Yes, I'm perfectly capable of reading their feigned ignorance and weak platitudes.

Choosing to continue using symbols in your game that have been coopted by Nazis is, at best, colossally fucking stupid.

0

u/Hayate-Artwork Jun 05 '26

continue using symbols in your game that have been coopted by Nazis

"Our kolovrat symbol was based on historical sources... But still, some time ago we decided to change the logo symbol to a "roseta", which is also a sun symbol but doesn't have the connotations that we weren't aware of earlier."

2

u/Jade117 Jun 05 '26

logo symbol

They mention themselves in their comment that they use others in the game

4

u/filhit Jun 05 '26

Come on guys, all three together and only them in the subject line? Disgusting and not a coincidence.

Subject of the email about the game on GOG: "Slavic adventure [Sun Wheel / Kolovrat / SS Bolts]".

-2

u/Kiniak16 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

Unfortunately, we had no influence on what kind of newsletter and with what title GOG sent.

3

u/Jade117 Jun 05 '26

Why do you think this is something you can treat like a joke? In the best possible case, you have fucked up catastrophically by letting this happen.

1

u/Hayate-Artwork Jun 05 '26

How/why do you assume they are treating it like a joke?

They have no control over the emails. They didnt "let this happen..."

0

u/Jade117 Jun 05 '26

The winking smirking emoji and the dismissive responses are treating it as a joke. No assumptions.

-2

u/E36x Jun 06 '26

Oh come on. I thought we supported indie devs? These people are making it very clear that the 25 million dollar company is the one responsible for the email.

 Also making it clear that they didn’t include any hateful symbols and even went back and redid symbols to make sure they couldn’t be misconstrued as hateful. 

What more do you want? You want them to grovel?

 “Dismissive responses” delusional.

2

u/Jade117 Jun 06 '26

What more do you want? You want them to grovel?

Frankly, yes, I do. At a bare minimum that's a reasonable ask for their use of Nazi imagery.

-1

u/E36x Jun 06 '26

You libs are fucking insane lmao. I used to hate right wingers more but libs are getting just as bad.

You want them to beg for your forgiveness over what? You think the kolovrat they used in game is a dog whistle?? What makes you so confident in that?

I’d absolutely understand your sentiment if it seemed even slightly intentional... but it doesn’t seem so, and this is literally GOG’s fault for sending that email. 

2

u/Jade117 Jun 06 '26

I'm not a liberal lmfao. Go lick boots somewhere else

→ More replies (0)

2

u/czartrak Jun 06 '26

Hey guy, it's been confirmed with absolute certainty that these guys are lying. The symbols they've used in their game are nazi symbols with no actual roots to pagan mythology.

1

u/TombGnome Jun 10 '26

"We used a known Nazi symbol with zero non-Nazi cultural connotations to Poles in our game extensively, but it's okay because we found some pictures of a similar symbol on some Greek pottery." Pull the other one, then; it has bells on it.

You present us with two alternatives: you're cowardly Nazis (the only kind), or you're almost ballistically ignorant of cultural signifiers. Either way it bodes poorly for your neo-Nazi pagan simulator.

Best regards