I almost hate to give this story attention because that’s all it’s designed to do, but I know there will be some people who will be spouting misinformation about it, so I thought I’d better enter the fray.

So there’s this fairly new video game out called ‘Hatred’. It’s about what you’d expect, an ultraviolent blood soaked shooter designed only to cause controversy, which it’s already somewhat achieved.

Here’s the trailer for it if you can stomach it, as it is very graphic.

So let’s get some facts out there. This is not a game that little Billy can just buy out of the case from Walmart. As of right now, it’s only going to possibly be available for PC through the Steam Store. So far, there’s no rating yet, but I can’t see this getting anything less than an AO rating.

It’s already being called a ‘school shooting’ game, which as always is a misnomer. From the trailer alone, I could see that there were several different locations and the main antagonist doesn’t seem to be some high school kid in mom’s basement. This game is not going to cause your kids to shoot up their school. Art, and I use that term incredibly loosely here, imitates life.

As an almost 40-year gamer myself, I have played some pretty violent games in the past decade or so. The difference between those games and Hatred is that Hatred has no moral consequences for the killing spree and no real end goal other than violence for the sake of violence. My personal impression of the game is that it is the video game equivalent of a petulant child that only seeks attention. This game will not win any Game of the Year awards, it’s only there to kick the hornets’ nest and, in my opinion, the only people who will seriously play it will be the fedora wearing neckbeards, who argue about ethics in video game journalism.

Now, having said that, do I believe the game should be banned or censored in any way? No, never. The game designers have the freedom and right to make the game. Steam has the right to sell it in their store.

So what should you do if your sensibilities are shaken to their very core by this game? Simple, ignore it. That’s what you do when something exists only to draw attention to itself, you ignore it and it will go away. And even if it doesn’t, no one is forcing you to play the game, and it doesn’t affect your life if someone else does.

UPDATE 1/16/2015: Hatred did, in fact, receive an AO rating from the ESRB. This means you probably won’t see it on home consoles as the big 3 console manufacturers, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, do not allow AO rated games on their consoles.