2026-08-18 · blog
Wolfenstein (2009) — The Day It Reached Shelves With No Scores Attached
Episode 31 of "Today Is Release Day": Wolfenstein, released by Activision in North America on August 18, 2009 for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (August 19 in Australia, August 21 in Europe). Raven Software developed it on an enhanced version of id Software's id Tech 4. It is a first-person shooter based out of a German town in the Second World War, in which you push open the "Veil" — the barrier between Earth and another dimension — to slow time, see what is normally invisible, and strip the shields off protected enemies. The odd part is launch day itself: what TechCrunch published on August 18 was not a verdict on the game but an article about not being able to find any reviews. The scores that arrived over the following days scattered widely — 7.5/10 at GameSpot, 7.25/10 at Game Informer, 5/10 from Edge for the PS3 version — and the game sold about 100,000 copies in its first month. Activision laid off staff at Raven Software afterwards, and this became the last Wolfenstein the publisher ever released.
