Hitman trailer: "never the intention to provoke people"

IO Interactive game director Tore Blystad has responded to the controversy over the trailer for Hitman: Absolution, which featured fetish nuns being punched and killed.

"We're sorry that we offended people - that was truly not the intention of the trailer," Blystad told IGN.

"Of course we understand, this has been a very big topic for us and we've been reading as much as we could of the articles and responses. We were surprised that it turned into such a huge topic… We just wanted to make something cool, it wasn't the intention to stir up anything."

He explained the subject matter represented the "extreme" nature of the Hitman series, and denied it was deliberately provocative, saying the resultant media storm was a "big surprise."

"The religious themes have been there from the very beginning, along with outlandish party scenes. And there are a lot of movie influences in Hitman Absolution, like Tarantino and Rodriguez. The grindhouse theme is something that we're using throughout the game. It tends more towards sixties exploitation movies - these were a fascination [for us] because they were so extreme."

GamesIndustry International's Rob Fahey recently put forward his thoughts on the trailer, and argued one of the biggest problems with it was the industry's inability to debate the issues it raised properly.

"Absolutely none of the responses that I have seen have actually addressed the issues being raised," he wrote.

"Either those responding simply don't understand the issue as it's being presented, or they understand that the real nub of this matter is something quite indefensible, and that the best way to defend it is by distraction and whataboutery."