Hatred

Destructive Creations' first game, Hatred , is now available on Steam with an adults only AO rating from the ESRB. The game is described by its creators as a mass shooting simulator, though most reviews we've read so far suggest that - besides the death animations (which can be a little over the top in the violence department) - the game is your average run-of-the-mill run and gun game.

Whether the game deserves the rating it got from the ESRB is still up for debate because - besides the dialog of the protagonist talking about all the killing he's doing and how he apparently hates everyone - the game isn't any more violent than a Postal game or the latest version of Grand Theft Auto.

The game also only seems to be available on Steam, with other online digital distributors like GOG.com banning it. Twitch tried to be a bit subtle about its ban by changing its policies such that games rated AO by the ESRB are banned in general. Rather signposting that ban was more or less specific to Hatred, Twitch is fine with adults only rating from all the other world games rating organisations. Most people have turned to Twitch competitor Hitbox to stream the game as a result.

Digital download service GOG has decided not to sell Hatred. Destructive explained in a Facebook reply regarding GOG's decision, saying that the service expressed interest in distributing the game and even tested it, and said that the game is good, but 'we can't.' That's the whole story.

Polygon , a reliably hysterical gaming rag published by Vox Media, was first out of the gate in the 'outrage' stakes, saying the game caused them genuine revulsion . And then, as night follows day, eager social justice warriors determined to prove what virtuous people they are chipped in, setting up a petition to have the game banned. Most of these people do not play, or even really care about, video games. They just enjoy whingeing.

Offsite Review: Why Hatred is Good for You

3rd June 2015. See  review from  shacknews.com

Hatred released, and the gaming world remains relatively unchanged. But beyond the controversy and its mindless violence, there's an important message that makes it good to hate.

...Read the full review

The ESRB has rated Creative Destruction's ultra-violent mass shooting spree game Hatred as Adults Only, with content descriptors for Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, and Strong Language.

And while an AO rating isn't considered a ban, it will likely keep it from ever seeing retail shelf space in places like Target, Best Buy, GameStop, or Walmart, because North American retailers won't carry AO games.

Valve's Steam digital distribution platform doesn't carry AO-rated games either, but the game has been greenlit by the community. Whether Valve will let the game be published on its platform after this rating remains to be seen.

The Daily Mail has discovered the controversy seeking game and writes:

Hatred game becomes second in history to get adults only rating as critics slam makers for sickest ever storyline.

It has been dubbed the sickest ever video game because players only have one aim - to massacre as many people as possible in a genocide crusade .

'Hatred' is the story of a lone wolf gunman who hates the world and acts out his fantasy of brutally murdering the public and police because no life is worth saving .

The hooded killer uses machine guns, knives and explosives to kill in the streets, in schools and public buildings because of his bitter hatred of human worms .

The controversy seeking violent shooter Hatred appeared on Steam Greenlight seeking gamers support for future inclusion on the game distribution service. Not long after, it was yanked by Valve who run the games distribution service. The company commented:

Based on what we've seen on Greenlight we would not publish Hatred on Steam. As such we'll be taking it down.

The Destructive Creations Team responded in a statement:

As you know today we've launched our Steam Greenlight campaign for Hatred. Unfortunately after couple of hours Steam shut it down.

Even though games like Manhunt or Postal are still available on Steam we of course fully respect Valve's decision, as they have right to do so. In the same time we want to assure you that this won't in any way impact the game development, game's vision or gameplay features we're aiming for. The game is still to be released in Q2 2015 as planned.

Moreover we don't treat this as a failure because yet again this showed us a huge community support we're totally overwhelmed with. After only a couple of hours Greenlight campaign being live, Hatred gathered 13,148 up votes and ended up on a #7 on top 100 list. This is the best proof for us that there are diehard Hatred fans out there waiting for this game to be released.

Voted On

18th December 2014. See  article from  gamepolitics.com

Valve has decided to reinstate Creative Destruction's controversial game Hatred on Steam Greenlight. We don't know why, but it's probably not a bad thing. Greenlight is supposed to be about the community picking and choosing what games get approved - not Valve.

Valve's founder Gabe Newell said:

Yesterday I heard that we were taking Hatred down from Greenlight. Since I wasn't up to speed, I asked around internally to find out why we had done that. It turns out that it wasn't a good decision, and we'll be putting Hatred back up. My apologies to you and your team. Steam is about creating tools for content creators and customers.