As Valve changes the way it handles adult content on Steam, it’s been revealed that games containing “mature themes” will no longer be accepted for Steam Early Access. The update comes as anti-porn lobbyists continue to put pressure on adult games, working through the payment processors that storefronts like Steam and Itch.io rely on.
Dammitbird, the developer behind adult action RPG Heavy Hearts, revealed on X that their game had been rejected from Early Access due to its adult themes. “Your app has failed our review because we’re unable to support the Early Access model of development for a game with mature themes,” the rejection message from Steam, as shared online by Dammitbird.
“Due to current events, I panicked and contacted my publisher to help me get on Steam Early Access,” Dammitbird said to GamesMarkt about their application. “The general rule is that your game should be about 65% done before doing EA. Well, we are about 70% done so the time was right anyway. But now, all of a sudden and without a policy announcement, the rules have changed and now I can’t join Steam EA.”
Heavy Hearts, which contains explicit sexual content alongside its traditional RPG gameplay, also fell victim to Itch.io’s delisting of adult games earlier this year. “Heavy Hearts is still available on Itch, but you’ll never be able to search it, because it is de-indexed,” they explained. “I made a free demo page that you can find though. Itch.io was 50% of my games revenue. It’s how I paid my artists and other partners. I still have Patreon and Subscribestar, they are keeping the game afloat, but it won’t be enough in the long run.”
Dammitbird added that Patreon is now their most reliable source of support for Heavy Hearts, but the platform also has an uneasy history with adult content creators, leaving them open to the risk of being deplatformed there as well.
Gamers and developers, including industry body International Game Developers Association, have spoken out against the arbitrary censorship of adult games, calling out the lack of transparency and clear guidelines in the process. Itch.io is also seeking its own solutions, which included re-listing free NSFW content, and searching for alternative payment processors to handle adult content purchases.
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