Overview
- GOG sent a promotional newsletter for The End of the Sun on June 5 that showed several runes widely identified by reporters as a Sonnenrad, a kolovrat and the double SS Siegrune, prompting immediate backlash.
- The company stopped the mailout, posted an apology on X and said it will revise its review process to add more checks after admitting it used the wrong logo, failed to port German QA feedback and did not verify mobile display.
- GOG has offered a technical explanation that a Sowilō character rendered as a lightning‑like glyph on some devices, and a company comment said inconsistent font rendering contributed to the visual match with Nazi symbols.
- The game’s Polish developers said they were surprised and told reporters they are in contact with GOG while noting an AI recommendation may have played a role in selecting the symbols.
- Reporters and historians stressed the runes’ modern ties to Nazi-era designs, including Walter Heck’s Siegrune, and said the incident underscores the need for cross-device rendering checks and stronger human review when marketing culturally sensitive material.