CEO behind Hatred responds to accusations of neo-Nazi, anti-Islamic affiliation

Jaroslaw Zielinski, the CEO of Destructive Creations and animator for the upcoming game Hatred, tells Polygon that his company is absolutely not linked with Polish neo-Nazi groups. Such assertions, Zielinski says, are "fucking ridiculous."

Last week the trailer for Hatred was released and many in the gaming community, Polygon among them, condemned the game for its portrayal of wanton violence. In the trailer an unnamed player character wearing a long black trenchcoat brutally murders innocents. The premise of the game, Zielinski says, is to go against the current trend of more thoughtful, gentler games.

"We wanted to create something contrary to prevailing standards of forcing games to be more polite or nice than they really are or even should be," Zielinski wrote to Polygon in an email interview last week.

Since that time, accusations have circulated that Destructive Creations, and Zielinski in particular, are affiliated with an organization known as Polska Liga Obrony (or the Polish Defence League) which, among other activities, has been known to patrol Warsaw nightclubs "defending" Polish women from Muslims.

One Polish publication likened the activity to a "Catholic jihad."

Zielinski has liked the group on Facebook, but says that is in no way an endorsement of their activities.

"As for me supposedly 'supporting' Polska Liga Obrony on Facebook," Zielinski wrote Polygon in a Facebook conversation today, "I've liked this page, because it's source of an information what is going on right now in the middle-east and Europe (and a lot of evil shit is going on — those are REAL problems, not our game). Some things media would not show, nor tell. So: no, I'm not any kind of 'supporter.'

"I don't watch TV, I don't have time to follow all the news. If there's some evil shit is going on in Europe or Middle East, I get the message on my wall. That's simply the only reason I've 'liked' this page. And I don't see how giving a 'like' is threaten as supporting something. (sic)"

Zielinski says that he is not personally affiliated with Polska Liga Obrony. "They don't even know I exist," he wrote, adding that as far as he was aware before last week the Polish Defense League was just a Facebook page and not an actual organization.

He says that a full statement on Destructive Creations' political views and their alleged connections with neo-Nazis will be posted to its website tomorrow.

Edit: The original version of this story listed the company name as Destructive Games. It is in fact Destructive Creations.