Today Pandemic revealed that a "softened version" of The Saboteur will be sold in four countries. The difference between the softened and normal editions of the game? Some slight censorship.

"When we say Softened it replaces the Swastikas with Iron Crosses," explains the Pandemic Twitter. The countries selling the Swastika-less version of the game are France, German, Austrian and Switzerland. Other countries may be added to that list in time as well.

Publicly showing the symbol is actually a criminal offense in some countries (Germany, for one). In the other countries on this list, EA's probably just playing it safe. Saboteur takes place in occupied France and I guess the sight of virtual Nazis in full dress patrolling the streets of Paris hits a bit too close to home there. Still, I'm not sure I get why the symbol's the focus of censorship. Even without Swastikas on their uniforms, though, you know exactly who this army of Luger-wielding, German-speaking invaders is supposed to be. The people who would find the game distasteful with Swastikas will probably find it distasteful without.

By the same token, I doubt this change is going to ruin the experience for people who were already jazzed to play the game. Who cares what little symbol NPC's are wearing on their sleeve when you're backstabbing them or shooting their blimp out of the sky? Pandemic claims on their Facebook page that "many" gamers have been asking about what countries will have the softened edition, though, so apparently it's important to someone.

Meh, the whole issue exists in a cultural blindspot for me. Where I'm from, we gun down virtual Nazis by the truck-load. Heads would probably roll if a game shipped with a burning American flag, though. Saboteur's available in Europe starting on December 4th. It arrives here in North America on December 8th.