Paradox Interactive, the developer of popular grand-strategy game Hearts of Iron IV, has said it will review its Discord moderation rules and bans following a backlash in Türkiye over the removal of a Turkish player who used Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s image as a profile picture.

The controversy began around September 21-22, when the player was removed from the game’s official Discord server. In an appeal response shared online, a moderator said real-life images of “controversial peoples” from the period covered by the game were not allowed.

The player was told that the illustrated Ataturk portrait used in Hearts of Iron IV would be acceptable instead.

Hearts of Iron IV is a strategy game set in the 1930s. Allowing players to take control of a country and shape its political, economic and diplomatic course. Players manage their nation’s military and industry, form alliances and pursue diplomatic strategies through the World War II era.

‘I am losing my mind’

Hearts of Iron IV includes Türkiye as a playable country, with Ataturk also represented in the game as “Father of the Turks”.

A downloadable content (DLC) pack — an extension of the game — focused on Türkiye was released in October 2020, generating significant interest among Turkish players.

“After making a fortune off DLCs for this audience five years ago, I’m losing my mind watching them now suck up to Armenian lobby groups,” a 19-year-old Turkish player Burak Ozkazanc, a student, said, referring to the controversy

“It’s really upsetting that a game that taught me history is now treating us this way.”

Some players say that the company’s apology should help calm down the situation.

“This was a mistake by a freelancer working for Paradox, so we shouldn’t generalise it to the entire company. However, boycott calls have been made, and I support a boycott until Paradox issues an official statement. An apology should be made,” said Cagdas Sakar, 24, another Turkish player.

Wrong connection

The moderator had described Ataturk as a “controversial figure” and referred to debates over his links to the Committee of Union and Progress and events in 1915.

The moderation team also cited figures including Karl Marx when explaining its approach to historical and political figures.

Users who challenged the decision were reportedly suspended, while some messages criticising the moderation were removed. The claims about individual suspensions and deleted posts could not be independently verified.

The dispute quickly spread beyond Discord, with Turkish players turning to Steam to criticise Hearts of Iron IV. The game’s recent rating fell to “Overwhelmingly Negative”, according to Steam data cited in reports on the backlash.

The negative reviews also spread to other Paradox titles.

Paradox says rule will be reviewed

On Thursday, Hearts of Iron IV game director Batya addressed the controversy on Discord, acknowledging Ataturk’s significance as the founder of the Republic of Türkiye and saying the company’s games and moderation were not intended to pass judgement on historical figures.

Batya said the dispute had highlighted concerns over how rules governing real-world profile pictures were enforced and whether they were applied consistently.

“Following these discussions, it’s become clear this rule needs to be revised and has not been enforced consistently,” Batya said, adding that Paradox would review the rule, the actions taken and the bans issued during the controversy.

The company said it would provide a further update on its rules.