Right now I should actually sit down to realize together with our international team our dream of a game in which we all work together for years. Unfortunately, in the past few days, a discussion has developed that relates to my person and things that I have said or done. It's run by people I've never met in person or who've never had a chance to catch a glimpse of Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
In the past, I communicated things badly or did not think carefully enough about my comments. Especially in social media like Twitter, something - I've learned that - can be very dangerous. These comments can be taken out of the context and reassembled.
If the discussion were only about me as a private person, I would still find the allegations and the wording vicious, but would refrain from accepting and accepting it. But now we have reached a point where not only alone is I concerned, but more than 150 people who have nothing to do with my mistakes and decisions. People whose hard work and future are endangered. People who have invested hundreds of hours, crunch-time and heart and soul in a vision to create a game whose success is now jeopardized by the exaggerated discussion.
I can not accept that people who place me at the center of any discussion generally lump all the team members here at Warhorse. Or condemn our game based on their assumptions about my person or worldview.
I apologize for my lack of care and thoughtlessness in my personal communication, which has led to misunderstandings in the past. Should I hurt feelings or give the impression of propagating a kind of ideology, I apologize for that. I would also like to take this opportunity to talk about the issues that are currently in dispute.
Ethnic composition of the population of Bohemia in the Middle Ages and Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Probably the most serious allegation of the current debate revolves around the accusation that we would actively deny the presence of people of other skin color or ethnicity in our game and thus promote a racist worldview. That's wrong. I personally do not deny this fact, nor does Kingdom Come: Deliverance limit itself to any ethnic group. In the course of history, based on our knowledge of historical events, there are, besides Czechs, Germans and Jewish residents, the largest grouping in the game, the Kumans (in German also Kipchak) a Turkic tribe from the Eurasian steppe Migration and the displacement by the settlements of Hungary found its way to Bohemia at that time.
The nationality of other characters reflects what we know about Bohemia around 1403. Thanks to intensive research, this knowledge includes entire family trees and property rights. As already mentioned, the plot of Kingdom Come: Deliverance is limited to a limited area of today's Czech Republic (16qkm), an area that lies far inland from the European continent. Based on our sources, the region was mainly populated by people whose regional origin is in present-day Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Belgium (Walloon). In addition, the sources speak of a few people of Italian origin, who worked mainly as stonemasons and architects in the big cities and a Jewish community.
Of course, the situation at the time looked more heterogeneous in some other countries. Countries whose coasts have been heavily traveled, for example, through maritime trade. The people of Bohemia were certainly also aware that there are people of other skin color or descent, not least thanks to the representation of biblical persons or other works of art, however, it is more than doubtful that under their normal living conditions in rural areas, in the KCD is authoritative, ever had direct contact.
We have already dealt extensively with historians and historical sources while preparing for the work on the game. When the first allegations were made, I reiterated and intensified this discourse to make sure that we do not portray history in any altered form.
Most of the available literature is in Czech, but here are some quotes:
German translation in Prague is the second half of the 12th century, but the Privilege notes that they have been in Prague since the time of Vratislaus II Romance settlement (Walloons, possibly Italians).
We know about no settlements of other nations in Prague. Outside of Prague it was individual Germans or Jews settled along the trade routes or small groups of foreigners in monasteries and chapters. (Klápšt ?, 2005: 354; Žemlička, 1997: 211-217).
Overwhelming majority of the male population is biologically rooted in Central Europe for about ten thousand years. It is clear that the difference between the linguistic identity and the biological identity is that it is in the middle of the world. In laymen terms, these people "came from nowhere". (Between life, death and identity: Archaeology and genetics about the origins of Southern Czechs in Netolice, Jaromír Beneš, Emanuel Žárský, History and Present ( Díjiny a sou? Asnost) 7/2011)
Politics and GamersGate
Another point raised by critics of my person is their interpretation of my political world view and behavior in the GamerGate discourse. I see myself as a liberal person, whose highest good is the maximum personal freedom of all people, as long as this freedom does not affect the rights and the integrity of other people.
I grew up in a country dominated by a communist regime after being occupied by the National Socialists. The Nazis killed over 300,000 people alone in the territory of today's Czech Republic. My grandfather was imprisoned in a labor camp from which he luckily escaped. After the war, the Communists confiscated my family's home and business and repressed our freedom for another 40 years. I am not a friend of any kind of totalitarian rule and consider the accusation that I am a Nazi or close to any ideology that even remotely goes in that direction, therefore as absurd, even personally offensive and offensive. Anyone who follows me on social networks will know that I cherish the antifascist movement of our past, and the people who follow me always remember our past or honors for our ancestors who were fighting against this regime , I do this to remember the history of our country and its fight against two unjust regimes so that my fans - especially young people - will not forget them.
My point of view to GamerGate I have stated in various interviews, among others, at Kotaku. In summary, I would like to say that for me at heart it was always about the freedom of speech and the freedom of opinion and thoughts. The freedom for artists to create art, free of political influence. For me personally and I speak only for myself, should the artwork initially always be seen free of political or ideological views, unless the art clearly and aggressively communicates racism or any form of discrediting of minorities. Such messages can, do and will not be good, not only me, but our entire team.
Today I see my comments in a different light and would like to apologize if my points of view in individual discussions should have been better communicated by me. I'm sure I should have used a better word choice or form of communication in some cases. I wanted to contribute with my view to the above-mentioned freedom of speech and my desire to make artists work without being influenced by the opinion of other people. This is my personal opinion.
The T-Shirt
That was stupid. Without ulterior motive or hidden message. I listen to a variety of music styles, but I'm a big heavy metal fan at heart. To underline my passion for this music, I had decided to wear a T-shirt every day at gamescom 2017, which is another less well-known album. One of these shirts was printed with the artwork of the Burzum album Filosofem. This album is still regarded as a milestone in the development of Scandinavian Black Metal and is widely regarded as a classic of this genre. By wearing the said T-shirt I wanted to emphasize nothing more than the artistic meaning of the album.
The album itself is apolitical, largely instrumental and deals with topics such as loneliness, darkness and loss in his texts. It is still available for sale or streamed by all major vendors, and still appears on many lists listing the best black metal albums.
Most important to me personally is that my conscience is pure. I do not support any form of extremism, on the contrary, based on my personal life experience, I strongly oppose it. I have two daughters, to whom I wish nothing but the best for the future and that they can lead their lives in freedom.
In fact, I wrote about ten percent of the quests in the game myself, and the rest was contributed by the seven other designers who, as individuals, may see and judge many things in life differently than I do. We live and work together because we are tolerant, rational people who accept other opinions and communicate in open exchange.
I know that Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a great piece of entertainment for the realization of which is a large international team. I am very grateful to be part of this team.
And co-founder of the studio, Martin Klíma:
