Steam Cracks Down on Adult Games, Creating Confusion for Developers

Valve’s storefront is known for its lenient publishing requirements, especially regarding adult games on the PC platform. However, recent incidents suggest changes may be coming for games with sexual content on Steam.

Steam’s onboarding process for game developers now prohibits content that violates rules set by payment processors, card networks, banks, or internet providers. This change particularly targets adult games that may breach these regulations.

The lack of specific guidelines from Valve poses a challenge for developers, as the rules are vague. Additionally, this shift means that Valve is relinquishing its authority to another entity with its own moral standards.

Simultaneously, around 22 adult games have been removed from the platform, with many featuring incest. While some titles may have been removed due to quality concerns, the common factor among most affected games is the inclusion of incest.

Valve has not yet commented on these changes. Historically, payment processors like Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal have been cautious about sexual content, often citing concerns about obscenity and illegal material. This cautious approach extends to platforms selling erotic content or hosting adult media.

Despite efforts to prevent illegal material, payment processors tend to restrict sexual content broadly, creating challenges for businesses. This issue is more pronounced in adult games compared to mainstream titles depicting sex.

Without clear guidelines, it remains uncertain how these rules will be enforced on affected games that may contain objectionable content. The lack of transparency raises concerns about fair implementation.

According to the source: Polygon.