The “100 percent uncensored” Steam visual novel Negligee: Love Stories is officially released, but there’s a catch: it’s only available in certain regions.
“Several of the restricted countries banned the game [before release], which prompted us to realize that we can’t release it under the radar,” the game’s developer Dharker wrote in a statement. “You might think that it is ludicrous, but Dharker Studios is a company. If we release a game in a country where the content is illegal or could be considered illegal, then potentially we could suffer. If they fined or targeted Steam as per our agreement with Steam, we would be liable for it. Therefore sadly we must err on the side of caution. And that determines the restrictions.”
The game is unavailable on Steam in the current regions: Japan, Malaysia, Botswana, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Bangladesh, China, Lebanon, South Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Iceland, Ukraine, Russia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Guyana, Iraq, Dubai, UIE, and Germany.
Interestingly, although it’s technically legal to sell Negligee in Germany, Steam isn’t ready to handle it just yet.
“Steam does not have a comprehensive third-party age verification system in Germany, therefore there are ways that it could be considered illegal to sell this game in Germany via Steam,” Dharker said. “Germany is particularly strict on this kind of thing. This may be changed in the future, but for now we have no choice.”