Hatred Pulled From Greenlight

When Hatred dropped its first trailer in October, it became a source of a great deal of controversy. Originally, this controversy helped to bring attention to the game, much as the design team hoped that it would. That attention, however, may have led to unforeseen consequences.

At that time, I had sent an email with questions regarding the game to the development team. In their response, they stated plans for a self-release already in place. However, they did state that they are in talks with some publishers for a retail release. While some have shown interest, major games platform Steam has shown the game is not welcome on its service.

Earlier today, the game appeared on the platform's Greenlight service, a program to allow the public to vote on whether or not a game or game concept should be published to the service. It is typically used for development houses to self-release titles without requiring the intervention of a publisher.

Only hours after its first appearance, the game was taken down. A screen shot posted by one of the developers shows that the game was removed due a breach of the site's terms of service. This move is odd, as Valve's service does feature such titles as Postal and Manhunt, both equally violent games with similar thematic elements.

Valve's statement, given by Doug Lombardi was that "based on what we've seen on Greenlight we would not publish Hatred on Steam." Given the information provided by the developer, however, one wonders what was seen. They revealed the game had already received over 13,000 yes votes, placing it number 7 out of the just over 2,000 games currently vying for approval.

In a statement released on their website, the team denies this is a failure, rather that it shows the desire for the game's release:

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. And that we need to keep going to deliver them a game that offers exciting and challenging gameplay.

This latest controversy comes on the heels of GTA V being pulled from select store chains in Australia, and one chain in New Zealand pulling all R18 content. GTA V, however, will still available on the Steam service. Steam's typical policy for games curation has been to only remove those that blatantly misrepresent themselves. While it is possible prior objectionable titles have been removed, Hatred is the first high-profile game to be pulled.

While other outlets for digital release exist, Steam is the largest and most visible. It will be interesting to see what impact their decision will have on competitors like Good Old Games, Greenman Gaming, and Desura. As it stands, even direct release through a service like PayPal may also be at risk, as PayPal has had a history of denying access to products it deems as objectionable.

For years, games have faced the specter of censorship globally. In some countries, such as Australia and Germany, publishers and developers have had to bend knee and alter their games or face an outright ban. As we close out 2014, gamers can hope that these incidents are isolated, and not another push to drive games away from adult themes.

As #GamerGate has shown, gamers are willing to fight for the rights of developers to produce the content they want, as well as receive fair coverage for it. With teams like Destructive Creations and Running With Scissors pushing the envelope, we can hope that platforms like Steam will realize there is a market to be served even by games some find objectionable.