Update (May 28, 2015): Responding to a request for comment from Ars, Destructive spokesperson Agnieszka Szóstak said GOG “evaluated the game and then rejected it. Unfortunately, they have not given the team any reasons for this decision other than ‘for reasons beyond our control’. That was pretty much their answer. And the only answer the team got.”
Original story
Digital download service GOG has decided not to sell controversial shooter Hate, according to the developers at Destructive Creations. “Hate will not be available on GOG.com, although gamers widely expected it to be due to GOG’s refusal to distribute the game,” the developer said in a press release.
Destructive went into a little more detail in a Facebook reply regarding GOG’s decision, saying the service expressed interest in distributing the game and “even tested it, saying the game is good, but ‘we can we don’t’. That’s the whole story.” Later in the same thread, Destructive says “we really wanted to be on GOG, but something happens.”
A GOG representative told Ars today that it had no comment on the game or general listing guidelines. Destructive representatives were not immediately available for comment.
After announcing the game with a shocking trailer last October, a representative for Destructive told Gamespot that he hoped to release the game Hate on Steam and GOG, “but actually we have no idea if they’ll let us do this, because of all the shit storm the game brings.” A GOG representative told Gamespot at the time that they had not had any contact with the developers about the game. “You know our ’boutique’ approach, so at least before deciding on a release, we would review the game and give our feedback to the developers.”
GOG users have posted thousands of posts about Hate on a number of discussion threads, with opinions on the content of the game and its possible distribution. A “community wishlist” entry hoping to sell the game on GOG has garnered over 3,500 votes at the time of writing, while another user wishlist entry “NO! Hate on GOG” has 150 votes.
Steam removed briefly Hate from the Greenlight section where users voted in December to bring it back in a day later. Destructive said back in January that the game received an AO rating from the ESRB, which would make it the first AO-rated title to be released on Valve’s digital download service. The title currently has no official rating on the ESRB website.
Destructive says Steam preorders will actually ship on May 29, days ahead of a June 1 general release on Steam and Desura.