Paradox Gets Review-Bombed After Linking Atatürk to 1915 Events

Paradox Interactive’s Hearts of Iron IV has been hit by a large-scale negative review campaign after moderators on the game’s official Discord described Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as a “controversial” figure and linked him to the 1915 events.

The dispute began after a Turkish player was banned for using a real photograph of the founder of the Turkish Republic as a profile picture.

It escalated when moderator chakerathe cited Atatürk’s past membership in the Committee of Union and Progress, or CUP, while describing his relationship to the events of 1915 as “controversial.”

By Thursday, Hearts of Iron IV’s recent Steam rating had fallen to Overwhelmingly Negative.

Only 7% of 23,966 reviews posted over the previous 30 days were positive.

From Avatar Ban to Historical Row

The controversy began around September 21-22 when the Turkish player was removed from the official Hearts of Iron IV Discord.

chakerathe said real photographs of “controversial” historical figures from the game’s era were prohibited under server rules.

The player was told that Hearts of Iron IV’s illustrated Atatürk portrait would be acceptable instead.

A follow-up explanation pushed the dispute beyond moderation policy.

The moderator said Atatürk had been a CUP member during the 1915 events and argued that questions over whether he supported or was involved in them remained “controversial.”

A later team response compared Atatürk with Karl Marx, describing both as polarizing figures whose real photographs were barred because of their continuing political relevance.

Turkish Players Challenge 1915 Framing

The 1915 reference quickly became the central issue.

Atatürk had joined the CUP as a young Ottoman officer but later became a critic of its senior leadership, particularly Enver Pasha.

In 1915, his principal role was military. He commanded the Ottoman 19th Division at Gallipoli and later held larger commands during the campaign.

He was not part of the senior Ottoman leadership responsible for wartime policy associated with Talat, Enver and Cemal Pasha.

Turkish players and historians therefore accused the moderator of collapsing Atatürk’s earlier CUP membership into an implication of responsibility for the 1915 events.

Claims of Selective Enforcement

Users also challenged how the rule was being applied.

Players circulated examples of real photographs of Stalin and other wartime leaders being used as avatars without similar action.

That fueled allegations that the policy was selective rather than a consistent ban on real images of controversial historical figures.

The fact that Paradox’s own Atatürk portrait remained permitted further sharpened the criticism.

Hearts of Iron IV itself depicts figures including Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Hirohito and Churchill as part of its World War II setting.

Paradox material had also previously referred to Atatürk as “the legendary Mustafa Kemal Atatürk” and described him as Türkiye’s founding father.

Review Backlash Spreads

Once screenshots of the moderation exchanges circulated, Turkish players organized negative reviews across Paradox titles, with Hearts of Iron IV as the main target.

Users also said critical messages were deleted or hidden on Discord and that further bans followed. The official Hearts of Iron IV Discord later closed new joins.

By September 24, the game’s recent Steam reviews had fallen to 7% positive from 23,966 submissions. Its all-time rating remained Very Positive because of the much larger volume of older reviews.

Steam also flagged off-topic review activity.

Paradox Acknowledges Inconsistent Enforcement

Hearts of Iron IV game director Batya later addressed the controversy on Reddit.

The response said the team understood Atatürk’s importance as founder of the Turkish Republic and that the game and its moderation policies were not intended as judgments on historical figures.

Batya also acknowledged that the profile-picture rule had been enforced inconsistently and said the team would review both the rule and related bans.

The statement did not retract or apologize for the moderator’s remarks concerning Atatürk and the 1915 events.

Paradox Interactive has not issued a formal corporate apology.