Censorship

Video games have always been an easy target for censorship, even moreso than movies. And of course, recently, Grand Theft Auto V was in the news again because of its re-release.



But now, there's another video game in the news this week, or rather last week (today's Sunday). A video game called Hatred.



Hatred is an indie game developed by Polish developer, Destructive Creations. It was recently pulled by Greenlight a section of Steam that Valve uses to gauge community interests in software and video games.

And it appears the reason for this is the game is that you take over a character that's on a genocide crusade where [quote]:



The description for the game reading:



So Steam pulls the game, Doug Lombardi of Valve says, “Based on what we’ve seen on Greenlight we would not publish Hatred on Steam. As such we’ll be taking it down.”



Destructive Creations then responds:



The newest update after all of this is the game is back on Steam.

According to Destructive Creations, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell apologized in an email he posted on Facebook.



The email read:



And how it breaks down for me is that Hatred as a game seems disgusting. It appears to glorify mass murderers who commit terrible atrocities. Much of it seems to be gore for the sake of gore.






And it is very likely I will not get this game. But at the same time, I get Valve bringing it back. They don't have to; they appeared to be under no legal obligation. They are a private company. But at what point are you going to tell grown adults what they can and can't have?

A child who this game is not intended for, yes, will end up getting this game but that is not the fault of the developer. And even the best equipped parents can't keep everything from their kids.

Personally, as an adult, I can tell the difference between video games and the real world. I've opened fire on people in public, in GTA V. I've just killed people doing their job and going about their daily lives, in Far Cry 4. I saw a beautiful, majestic bear by itself in The Wilderness, and I shot it with a goddamn rocket launcher! There's a difference between video game me and real me, and anytime someone says I — an adult who is not a stupid, stupid, crazy person — cannot have something because a decision has been made and it's very reactionary, it's stupid. Don't treat me like a child.

Also, there will always be that kind of person that will want to just kill people!

Games, like any form of entertainment or art are meant to tell a story. It's not always a good story. It's not always a dark story. It puts you more in the driver's seat than other forms of media. But that's my opinion. And yes, inevitably, when there is another school shooting, that shooter might have actually played this game. That hasn't stopped the media or anyone else saying that video games — other video games that are far or less violent than this one — cause something.