Steam Will Not Explicitly Mention the Explicit Reason for Blocking Explicit Content
The Steam user looking to find that uncensored patch for their adult-oriented adventure or pornographic visual novel will have to look elsewhere. As revealed by developers of adult games, the company is blocking all assets.
While Steam is a huge distributor that doesn’t mind selling adult-themed contact, it seems they’re unwilling to take the final step. Galaxy Girls developer Dharker Studio promised to share a patch delivering uncensored content. Later, a thread on the Galaxy Girls discussion page asked why the patch never came, despite their website pointing to the Steam page. The developer then admitted they were unable to offer instructions on downloading the patch:
“Steam reps have told us that they no longer allow any information or links to the uncensored patches on Steam, so they all had to be removed,” wrote a Dharker Studios rep. “We will gradually be updating our own website with info on how to install the patch.”
Studio Lupiesoft reported the exact same restriction on its own title, Mutiny!!, a pirate-themed adult game. When asked where to find the “full version,” they wrote, “Steam does not allow patches in the store.”
Instead, Dharker and Lupie now point to their official websites for all uncensored assets. Of their own volition, users have even shared download tools that add more explicit content. None of these threads can be pinned to the top of a forum, however.
Since Steam is cutting content and restricting threads, the distribution of all said content has fallen on the users. And users, well, they find and spread patch information without fail. There’s even a dedicated group called the Cut-Content police, who curate patches blocked by Steam.
While plenty of content gets cut, there are no clear-cut criteria for how Valve blocks adult game assets. The closest users got to an answer was during a Reddit ama where Valve company president Gabe Newell was asked the following:
“Would you ever consider allowing uncensored video games containing pornographic content to be sold on Steam?” a Redditor asked, receiving numerous upvotes. “Also, where do you draw the line for content on Steam? … I ask this as I’m getting tired of porn games getting releases on Steam censored without any content patch to put the content that the original developers of the game intended back into the game.”
“In principle, there are two problems to solve,” Newell replied. “The first is a completely uncurated distribution tool for developers. The second is a toolset for customers that allow them to find and filter content (and people are an instance of content most obviously in multiplayer) that is best for them.”
Perhaps Steam will, one day, find a way to curate the adult patches that let players play the ‘full version” of games. Expect an update if that method ever arrives.