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Steam’s first “100% uncensored” adult game won’t be sold in 28 countries

Steam got its first "100% uncensored" adult visual novel, but you can't buy it everywhere

September 17, 2018 Steam’s got a “100% uncensored” adult game, but there are certain places where you’re not allowed to buy it.

Negligee: Love Stories released last week on Steam, becoming the first fully uncensored adult game on the store since Valve instituted its anything goes policy and implemented new search filters. But the visual novel isn’t entirely free from censorship, as developer Dharker Studio has restricted the game’s sale in 28 territories “to comply with laws across the world.”

“The fact is,” the developer explains, “these restrictions are the downside of being the poster child for the first adult game on Steam. The game has had a lot of press coverage around the world. And specifically in Germany.” Dharker says Germany’s USK ratings board got in contact with the studio, which led to legal research into where the game could and could not be sold.

You won’t be able to get the game in Japan, Malaysia, Botswana, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Bangladesh, China, Lebenon, South Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Iceland, Ukraine, Russia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Guyana, Iraq, Dubai, UIE, or Germany.

Dharker says in the Steam announcement (noted by Kotaku UK) that releasing a censored version of the game “would remove 90% or more of the content,” though the studio would consider taking such a measure. In light of these restrictions, no previous Dharker games will be patched to include adult content, but some may get “free or cheap” adult patches in the future. But you’re unlikely to see that option in the 28 affected countries.

 

Last month, the developers posted an update stating that, due to new features being added into the Steam store, the game’s approval would potentially be delayed by several months, despite censorship undertaken by the developers. Those features, which are essentially content filters requiring customers to opt-in to seeing adult games, were added to the Steam store in an update earlier this month. This meant that Negligee (and presumably other adult games) could be re-submitted for review.

In a post on September 7, Dharker stated that the game would be re-submitted for review “in its fully uncensored format.” A further update, confirmed that the game had completed the review process “and will be our first every [sic] 100% uncensored game on Steam, no patch needed.” That seems to mean that Negligee: Love Stories will be the first uncensored pornographic adult game on Steam when it releases later this week.

The game’s store page (which is obviously NSFW) now contains a mature content description, outlining exactly what adult content features in the game. Its four stories “include dialogue of sexual themes, sexual interactions and nudity, and through them illustrations featuring nudity, undressing and sexual interactions as well.”

According to an update on the game’s Kickstarter (also NSFW), “this new filter is automatically set to block [adult games].” That means that if you want to see them in your store recommendations, you’ll need to edit your personal preferences in order to do so.

It’s a dramatic turnaround for Valve, as earlier this year it was revealed that adult games would be withheld from the Steam store, after the company stated that it would open up the platform to anything that wasn’t “illegal, or straight up trolling.” Negligee: Love Stories will be the first game of its kind to release on Steam when it comes out on September 15, but expect a spate of similar titles to follow soon after.

We recently spoke to adult game developer Nutaku about its continued growth and plans for launching a bespoke client.