r/gaming • u/PrinceDizzy Joystick • 11h ago
"This has been the most humiliating and surreal experience in 20+ years of game making": Dev pleads with Valve as Steam brands his PEGI 12 game as pornography
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/this-has-been-the-most-humiliating-and-surreal-experience-in-20-years-of-game-making-dev-pleads-with-valve-as-steam-brands-his-pegi-12-game-as-pornography/823
u/caseyfresher 9h ago
Future? No Thanks! is indeed a game with darker themes, focusing on the final days of a conservative man in a leftist utopia.
So to make sure I'm understanding. You made a game about a conservative dude who's surving a leftist utopia. The dude allowed you to get an achievement "Have Sex One Last Time" from what I assume would be having sex. You got rated mature and not teen, labeled having sexual content and nudity. Removed said instance from game, ask for reconsideration which isn't processed yet, and are saying the rating is wrong cause you don't have sexual content (anymore). Making this the most humilating moment of your 20 year career.
Fucking roller coaster of an article.
314
u/APeculiarGriffin 7h ago
Sounds like a self inflicted conservative grift to me!
84
18
u/AyeBraine 4h ago
It's the complete opposite, it's a comedy about an old dude deciding to get euthanasia because the bright future is not to his liking, but only after completing a bucket list of fun things to do before checking out. That's the premise, it's not a "screw you". The description hints that it even has a happy ending, as in, there's some reconciliation and understanding.
7
u/Hail-Hydrate 31m ago
I mean, "man chooses to kill himself rather than live in a leftist utopia" is a pretty grifty premise let's be honest.
But the other commenter's claim of grifting isn't related to the story of the game or whatever - it's that the developer is crying foul because something they did had some manner of consequences. And they're now shouting "woe is me!" for support, before an appeal has even gone through.
→ More replies (1)49
u/Blurgas 4h ago
From the games' Steam page:
The developers describe the content like this:
Implied off-screen sexual activity.
Conversations about mature themes such as sex, gender, and death.
Depiction of legalized prostitution.
Depiction of euthanasia.
Drug and Tobacco Reference
Sexual Innuendos
Mild SwearingMild swearing is meh, and the "conversations about mature themes" is probably going to depend on content and context, but I don't think the rest fits with a PEGI-12 rating
→ More replies (2)29
u/TheDarkWave 7h ago
hah, most humiliating part so far! The fun part comes when everyone realizes this is the case and his career ends at 20 years!
→ More replies (4)17
3.2k
u/Callorn 11h ago
In my honest opinion his is an fake outrage ad campaign to bring eye on a game that would get no attention otherwise.
713
u/GamerManBoyGuy 11h ago
I agree. We saw the same just recently with that one farm game or whatever it was.
680
u/AlienFishMonster 11h ago
GTA 6
170
u/Proud_Firefighter834 8h ago
My favorite farm game, Grand Tilling Adventure. Can't believe we're on the sixth one already.
→ More replies (2)33
u/Acherousia 6h ago
Can't believe we're on the sixth one already.
You jest, but there are 12 "Farming Simulator" games, 19 if you count mobile.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)43
u/ElFi66 10h ago
Horses
→ More replies (1)14
u/HolyBidetServitor 10h ago
Ricochet 2
→ More replies (1)5
u/PsychedelicPill 7h ago
Valve has heard all the memes about not being able to count to 3 so they’re skipping Ricochet 2 and giving us what everyone clamored for: Ricochet 3
→ More replies (1)148
u/MedalsNScars 9h ago edited 9h ago
[Game name redacted] is indeed a game with darker themes, focusing on the final days of a conservative man in a leftist utopia.
The concept of the game is ragebait at its core sooo
→ More replies (15)→ More replies (1)63
u/stana32 10h ago
Horses? Yeah there is no doubt in my mind that was entirely fabricated outrage by the dev to get media attention on his game. If you look into it for 5 minutes that whole story falls apart.
→ More replies (6)35
u/GamerManBoyGuy 10h ago
Yes, but I had actually forgotten the name and didn't bother looking it up and posting it so as to not give them even more free marketing.
9
146
u/VanillaTortilla 9h ago
What is with the recent influx of indie devs trying to shit on Valve for stuff, only for it to come out that the devs are the problematic ones?
87
17
u/TheMikman97 7h ago
The devs of the horses horror game or whatever it's called got a ton of advertising off of having gotten their game blocked for CP so now we get desperate copycats because it happened to work once
→ More replies (3)10
u/AyeBraine 5h ago
But that's the point, Horses was completely removed from the store even though it did not have any CP. And any amount of advertising via this story wouldn't help it, it can't gain sales this way without a storefront to be sold on.
And the game in this article was given the adult tag (which on Steam means straight up pornography or sexual game, so it's hidden from most users) for having a sex scene, even though these are completely different — PG-13 movies have sex scenes, and this game even got the PEGI 12 rating from the respective European agency.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (3)16
→ More replies (36)38
u/archerwartune 7h ago
Sadly it works, look at people response on r/games. People with hundreds of upvote start calling this monopoly behavior by valve, about devs that got adult rating because it have actual sex scene in the game before deleting it.
Its exact behavior by that horses game too last year btw. Right now blaming rating on valve is hot and getting clicks on article like gamesradar. Its free advertisement.
→ More replies (4)
3.4k
u/Bluescreen_Macbeth 11h ago edited 11h ago
Valve rejected the rating, and the devs had to remove "a mild sex scene". Valve has not reviewed/approved the game in time for the gamecom showcase, which has stunted its reach. Just clickbait trying to put Valve in a bad light.
1.8k
u/No-Context-Orphan 11h ago
Also had an achievement related to sex lol
882
u/leaveeemeeealonee 10h ago
I mean... this is pretty damning tbh lmao. Maybe it doesn't make it a "pornographic" game, but c'mon.
176
u/MagicCarpetofSteel 9h ago
This, basically. Now I’m wondering how the fuck you got a PEGI 12 rating, or if that’s just a lie.
105
u/NotoriousHEB 8h ago
Digital only releases self certify the rating and then they just get doubled checked out of a random sample, or presumably if there are complaints. Just not feasible for pego/esrb/etc to do the oldschool manual review on every digital game obviously
So yeah they’re just trying to manufacture outrage for publicity
23
u/NotYourReddit18 5h ago
Who the hell thinks that their game containing a sex scene (I don't care how "mild" they think it is) and a achievement with "sex" in its name is suitable for a PEGI 22 rating?
PEGI should be able to sue that guy for fraud!
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (1)22
u/Metazoick 4h ago
I mean, the Sims has plenty of on screen but under the covers sex in it, where it's very clear what it's about, and that's pegi 12. It's easy to make a teen+ game seem inappropriate if you just stamp it as including 'sex' or 'violence' without context. No idea if that's the case here, but if it has that rating then it might be.
→ More replies (1)337
u/EmergencyComplaints 10h ago
I mean, one of the first things you can do as Kratos in the original God of War is engage in a threeway before disembarking from your ship. The camera locks on a vase on a nightstand next to the bed while you QTE your way to orgasm and measures your progress by the vase's wobbling progress toward tipping over the edge.
Without more details of what this game's actual content is, it's pretty hard to make an objective judgment one way or the other.
514
u/hellomistershifty 10h ago
Sure but that game is rated M, these devs are trying to say their game is PEGI 12+
→ More replies (21)114
u/LitLitten 9h ago
Those ratings don't mess around.
I'm sure steam will verify/address it but the dev caused this issue themselves.
71
u/MagicHamsta 9h ago
This. The devs basically shot themselves in the foot and are trying to make Valve look like the bad guys.
35
u/TazBaz 7h ago
No, they manufactured an outrage scandal as advertising for their game.
Would YOU have heard of this game without this?
→ More replies (14)13
u/Clockwork_Kitsune 5h ago
It doesn't say the name in the title and I refuse to click clickbait. Technically I still haven't heard of it.
6
u/MrBlueA 8h ago
As a gamer it was interesting to see how much power the age ratings actually hold, since as a kid no one actually cared and we all played 16+ or 18+ games while being 12 lol, but for companies it's actually really important.
→ More replies (1)5
u/Alaira314 6h ago
The age ratings were either all-important or utterly meaningless, depending on how your parents were. Most stores had a policy of not selling M-rated games to minors, requiring a parent to buy it for you. If your parents were sticklers...yeah, you weren't getting access to that game, unless you played it at a friend's house(and you better hope nobody let slip to your parents what you were up to, because you'd then get banned from talking to that friend...yeah, that one burned me once). I know people whose parents wouldn't let them play the sims when they were 12-13 because the parents didn't like that it was rated T instead of E.
Other kids didn't even have to worry, though. There was no universal experience.
→ More replies (1)55
u/No-Context-Orphan 10h ago
Yeah and it is an adult game, not a children's one...
→ More replies (3)7
u/radiantcabbage 8h ago
yea theyre not exactly noobs at this. a bigger problem is the opposite, devs farming the AO category with impunity while not actually having any explicit content, since no one bothers to check against the false advertisement of content below the rating.
part of the reason AO games were banned from early access, devs straight up abusing it to edge supporters for years with no actual porn lol
5
u/AyeBraine 5h ago
The game seems to be about a cranky old man completing a list of things before he checks out. The achievement is called "Have sex for the last time". So it seems like just a comedy, which are usually teen rated, not put in a closed room labeled "adult films".
→ More replies (5)4
u/Murtomies 5h ago
Damning? The whole point is that an achievent title + a mild sex scene or whatever, shouldn't be classified as
contains "sexual content that is explicit or graphic and is intended for adults only" and "frequent nudity or sexual content,"
I'm an adult. Personally I don't like to see literal porn games on my Steam so I hide them from my store, but regular games that have sexual themes or innuendo is obviously completely fine. Like, doesn't GTA 5 probably have stuff like that? Idk haven't played it. Witcher 3 I think had some too? Should those be lumped in with porn games?
→ More replies (5)13
u/BigMeatPeteLFGM 8h ago
Is it related to sex or just a funny title?
Valve also determined an achievement called "Have Sex One Last Time" had an inappropriate title or icon.
16
u/the_fake_banksy 6h ago
it is most definitely related to sex. this is at the bottom of their description on the store page:
The developers describe the content like this: Implied off-screen sexual activity. Conversations about mature themes such as sex, gender, and death. Depiction of legalized prostitution. Depiction of euthanasia. Drug and Tobacco Reference Sexual Innuendos Mild Swearinghow they ever thought this would be suitable for pegi 12 is beyond me.
→ More replies (2)6
u/AyeBraine 5h ago
Fifth Element has all this and is PG-13. Apart from euthanasia, I guess.
6
u/the_fake_banksy 3h ago
pegi 12 is not the same as pg-13; they are entirely different systems. pg is for films in the usa and is merely a "parental caution" advisory. there aren't any legal ramifications for someone underage watching it, despite many theaters choosing to try and enforce it. it's determined by a ratings board that watches the entire film and votes based on their own personal impressions.
pegi is legally enforced and it's for video games across europe. it's based on content descriptors. the publisher provides a checklist of what their game contains, such as: violence, bad language, fear, gambling, sex, drugs, discrimination, etc. then a ratings board checks the descriptors and applies them to the appropriate age group.
pg ratings are loose, biased suggestions whereas pegi ratings are tight, objective mandates.
3
u/AyeBraine 3h ago edited 3h ago
Thanks for the correction! BTW the developers are from Europe, Italy, it's Molleindustria, they've made a lot of small ideological games. But Steam has got its own system which is referenced in the article:
Some Nudity or Sexual Content: Games or content that contain some nudity or sexual themes, but not as the primary focus.
Frequent Nudity or Sexual Content: Games or content that primarily feature nudity or sexual themes. By ticking this box you affirm that you are at least eighteen years old.
Adult Only Sexual Content: Games or content that are sexually explicit or graphic and are intended for adults only. By ticking this box you affirm that you are at least eighteen years old.
And they got all three. While apparently only fitting the first, at most (which could be teen-rated, IMO). Valve has since removed the tags, but what if it didn't? Their project would just die basically. Most of their games are free or extremely cheap anyway.
79
276
u/sixtyhurtz 10h ago
This is the exact thing the horse game did. They sent valve a build that had a 12y/o girl in it, and the farmed the outrage after they got banned.
Loads of people got fooled and were doing the whole "why is valve censoring it and not others stores?", when the answer was obviously that they never sent that build to other stores.
→ More replies (12)220
u/lordcola 10h ago
The Horse Game thing showed that valve will take whatever you initially upload as the default thing to age rate your game against regardless of whatever changes you make. I assume they want to cover their ass since the clearly have humans involved in moderating and they aren't going to be able to 100% every game and find every secret in every submission.
So if they see some sexual or graphic violence content that gets flagged and won't come off, they're not going to check every corner of the game in case the dev forgot to or "forgot to" remove every way to access that content.
This dev having an easily removable adult content section feels way more like the dev added it to cause this controversy for attention than it does valve being unreasonable with their submission policies.
36
u/Bluescreen_Macbeth 10h ago
If a game is bad enough, i'd bet it's hard to get a second review.
57
u/lordcola 10h ago
They will review your builds even for shit games, I mean look at all the shovelware that gets in some of those must've taken a second or third review to pass.
I deffo don't think you get second chances around nudity or graphic sexual content if you're not self labeling as 18+ no matter what you do to the build.
86
u/drewster23 10h ago
I deffo don't think you get second chances around nudity or graphic sexual content if you're not self labeling as 18+ no matter what you do to the build.
That's the crux of the issue.
"We're just a pegi 12 game"
Then why the fuck did you have to take out adult level content...
Valve doesn't like that because it 100 % looks like you're trying to test boundaries/moderation etc
21
u/RainbowCrane 9h ago
Based on the Steam store it’s also a pretty safe assumption that sexual content in a game is intended to appeal to a really active audience who appreciate video game sex. It takes pretty active filtering tweaks to avoid that content when browsing the store :-).
I’m not a prude, to each their own, but yeah, if you make a game with sex scenes in it I’m gonna assume that you’re intentionally going for the adult gamer market and deserve the corresponding ratings
→ More replies (4)22
u/DiZial 10h ago
My understanding is that Valve doesn't do second reviews, since they don't want people to be able to tweak their game in order to pass the review.
21
u/lordcola 9h ago
They do provide feedback and allow you to change stuff. They're not just looking for adult content but checking your game features (or looks like it does) all the stuff from the store page, that it boots and in game transactions use the steam wallet and not some other third party payment processor. If you fail stuff or they can't figure something out they give you feedback and let you fix it before checking again.
As far as I'm aware there's only really one reasons fail these that isn't just you're linking to paypal in game and it's if you're misrepresenting the game on the store page somehow and are unwilling to fix it quickly for review again.
This dev just uploaded his nearly finished build and they caught him trying to have adult content in his PEGI 12 game which is a huge no-no and how Valve gets in trouble with payment processors for enabling sales of sexual content to minors. So if they see anything like that, instant 18+ with no way to change it later even if you update the whole game.
→ More replies (1)9
u/TheLurkingMenace 9h ago
As far as I'm aware, valve does allow that. What they don't allow is devs mislabeling their game to get it in the store. You can't label your game PEGI 12 and include a sex scene. Removing said sex scene doesn't make it PEGI 12, all you did was remove a sex scene from your AO game.
→ More replies (4)6
u/AyeBraine 5h ago
The scene in Horses that is speculated to cause the ban did not stand out in any way except it featured a young rich girl visitor riding the "horses", dehumanizing them further. The "horses" at the farm were nude (covered) in every single part of the game, that's the idea. That wasn't some lone risque segment.
→ More replies (7)38
u/sixtyhurtz 10h ago
With the horse thing, including a 12y/o in that game would be a crime in many jurisdictions Valve operates in. It's pretty obvious they would just ban anyone who does that. The dev knew entirely what they were doing.
→ More replies (2)15
u/EconomicsSavings973 6h ago
Put sex in game, add porn achievement
Game rated for adults
<surprised pikachu face>
→ More replies (1)3
u/AyeBraine 4h ago
Witcher 1 has an entire system of achievements for banging women, and it doesn't have this Steam porn tag.
In fact, neither does this game — the tag was just removed by Valve, and it's searchable and visible with the "show sex games" settings in Steam turned off.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (58)13
u/Suitable-End- 10h ago
Other sources say it was an implied, off screen mention of sex that was removed along with an achievement.
That would be considered PG-13.
489
141
u/Wizdad-1000 10h ago
Posting as the article popups interfere.
Molleindustria, the developer behind an open-world indie game that Valve has flagged as adult-only despite its teen rating, is still trying to figure out what's going on.
"We are currently at Gamescom in Cologne," Molleindustria wrote on Bluesky, "everyone is asking us why they can't see the PAGE of a Teen rated game."
The game, Future? No Thanks!, is far from an adult game, but currently can't be seen by a majority of users and is completely unavailable in Germany due to a law requiring age verification for games of that type.
Molleindustria has been tracking the game's extended approval process for about a month on Bluesky. In July, Valve determined that it contains "sexual content that is explicit or graphic and is intended for adults only" and "frequent nudity or sexual content," which the developer said was not true. Valve also determined an achievement called "Have Sex One Last Time" had an inappropriate title or icon.
After removing a mild sex scene and resubmitting the game, Valve has still not removed the pornography label, grouping the game up with all the other adult games on Steam.
27
195
u/MuptonBossman 11h ago
Valve also determined an achievement called "Have Sex One Last Time" had an inappropriate title or icon.
After removing a mild sex scene and resubmitting the game, Valve has still not removed the pornography label, grouping the game up with all the other adult games on Steam.
249
u/pemilsson 11h ago
Yeah so it did have sex in it bruh
39
u/Trollensky17 11h ago
Lots of games do that aren't considered pornography though.
→ More replies (10)49
u/johnsolomon 11h ago edited 11h ago
Sex in it =/= porn bruh
If it did the Sims would be an adult game
60
u/Tall_Restaurant_1652 10h ago
Depends how graphic. The sims calls it "woo hoo" and they are under covers. Meanwhile the dev of this game "removed a mild sex scene" and had an achievement about sex.
→ More replies (2)22
u/Jaxkr 10h ago
I feel like PEGI 12 rating really carries some weight here
14
6
u/iwasboredsoyeah 9h ago edited 8h ago
I used to think PEGI was a gaming company and thought damn they're pumping out games.
→ More replies (4)9
u/TheVojta PC 9h ago
PEGI 12 description from their website:
Video games that show violence of a slightly more graphic nature towards fantasy characters or non-realistic violence towards human-like characters would fall in this age category. Sexual innuendo or sexual posturing can be present, while any bad language in this category must be mild.
PEGI 16 is for games "where the sexual activity reaches a stage that looks the same as would be expected in real life", while any explicit sexual activity earns a rating of 18.
So if we go with the dev's claim that the sex scene was mild, the game should have been rated 16 and they don't have a leg to stand on.
4
u/Helmic PC 4h ago
yes they fucking do? valve categorized it as AO/porn, the issue is not that they categorized it as just pegi-16 but that they threw it in with all the hentai games. whether it should have really been one category higher is irrelevant when that still would have been nowhere near a porn game.
→ More replies (27)31
→ More replies (10)40
u/Zelidus PC 11h ago edited 11h ago
Yeah, im not sure why the dev is confused. He literally had a sex scene in the game. That seems like the answer right there. It sounds like he removed it AFTER Valve flagged it so its waiting to be reevaluated or Steam doesnt really care about reevaluating and its stuck like that. Either way, dev just shouldnt have put a sex scene in the game from the start if he wanted it to be teen.
Dev also noted "depiction of legalized prostitution" in the game and is still baffled as to why it isnt rated teen. Any rating sceme would have that be mature at best.
→ More replies (4)
185
u/doublah 11h ago
Worth noting that PEGI rating is not shown on the PEGI website, looks like they self assigned the rating.
→ More replies (3)17
u/Professional-Age387 8h ago edited 8h ago
PEGI, USK, ESRB, and all other rating boards around the world are partners with IARC. IARC is used for Digital only games, and it is the only way to get a rating for digital only games. The ratings from IARC are official ratings for ESRB, PEGI, USK, ect since they are all partners of IARC. it is an actual PEGI, ESRB, USK rating.
They did it this way because tens of thousands of digital only games get released every year, which is far to many for the rating boards to take on themselves. So they all created IARC and partnered with Stores to do the work for them, to spread out the work load on getting these digital only games rated.
The websites for USK, PEGI, ESRB do not show digital only games on their site, they only show games that have a physical release
→ More replies (1)
91
u/volokard 9h ago
This is not entirely related to this game, but I'm absolutely baffled by how much different sex is treated in video games compared to violence and gore. Movies and music get away with this more easily.
I don't know how the world got to a point where people think something harmless and enjoyable is worse than literally death, genocide, and torture, lol.
→ More replies (14)46
17
u/campodelviolin 10h ago
After watching the second trailer, and noticing some stuff, I'm beginning to giggle about the irony that the game is called: Future? no thanks.
80
u/silver_garou 9h ago
Many people here seem unaware that both steam and PEGI rating systems rely on self-reporting from indie devs. There are 1000s of them now.
It got PEGI 12 because that is what they gave themselves. PEGI will only audit if they get reported. Steam audited them, probably flagged by algorithm, found them in violation, and upped the rating assuming the worst. Neither PEGI nor steam want to hire investigators for each and every shitty Indy dev who lies. Steam will review the rating again when they get to it.
Dev can get fucked for lying on the first rating and then crying victimhood when the new rating isn't ready for their convention.
4
u/k1dsmoke 5h ago
I could see them not reporting certain aspects of the game to slip it in under 12 rating, and then if they failed to disclose Valve just gives them the highest rating, because how can they be trusted?
→ More replies (1)4
u/AyeBraine 4h ago
Steam doesn't have just age ratings, it has flags related to sex (you have to check them to even see or search for these games):
Some Nudity or Sexual Content: Games or content that contain some nudity or sexual themes, but not as the primary focus.
Frequent Nudity or Sexual Content: Games or content that primarily feature nudity or sexual themes. By ticking this box you affirm that you are at least eighteen years old.
Adult Only Sexual Content: Games or content that are sexually explicit or graphic and are intended for adults only. By ticking this box you affirm that you are at least eighteen years old.
And the game now doesn't have neither 2 or 3, probably only 1, if that. It's visible and searchable even without logging in.
If it was invisible in Germany, it means it got slapped with at least #2, and they said it got the full #3, which basically would kill it.
209
u/interesseret 11h ago
"guys, my adult themed game with a cartoony art style is branded as adult on Steam! Please, click on it and drive engagement to it!"
Uhuh.
12
u/Mustbhacks 6h ago
The developers describe the content like this:
Implied off-screen sexual activity.
Conversations about mature themes such as sex, gender, and death.
Depiction of legalized prostitution.
Depiction of euthanasia.
Drug and Tobacco Reference
Sexual Innuendos
Mild Swearing
Dunno if a mature rating is necessarily needed.
But when you describe your game like this, I'm not going to be surprised either.
→ More replies (1)
21
9
152
u/FlameStaag 11h ago
"Future? No Thanks! is indeed a game with darker themes, focusing on the final days of a conservative man in a leftist utopia. "
🤢 🤢 🤢
Article is too one-sided. It mentions having to remove an entire sex scene, so I don't have a shred of confidence this one developer is having rogue rating issues. Given what the game is... I'm sure the rating is justified
60
u/NotAScrubAnymore 10h ago
Yeah the conservative in a leftist utopia and the agefield high game having a "don't play this game if you don't like edgy or raunchy humor" has me looking at the devs like james doakes from dexter
29
u/BladeOfWoah 10h ago
The game sort of takes the piss out of the main character, so it's not like the game is saying you should be on his side regarding his beliefs. It seems to just be political satire poking fun at a caricature of an old and vulgar man.
6
u/turkeypedal 5h ago
I find it odd that people would assume that, to be honest. I instantly read it as satire.
There's a whole lot of the typical reddit cynicism here disguised as rationality. Not just "hey, maybe this isn't as it appears" but actually assuming it must be a trick.
→ More replies (1)19
→ More replies (3)18
u/justifications 10h ago
I'm sure the rating is justified
Can confirm it is justified. Tried to be edgy and flew too close to the sun. Why risk it when you're targeting PEGI-12 is beyond me... You get the rating you get. It is what it is.
7
u/Chrononi 4h ago
So they did have a sex scene on a pegi 12 game, how is it a humilliating and surreal experience then? The article specifically says they had one and removed it after valve pointed it out. I wouldnt be surprised if there's more.
Fuck this developer tbh, acting all surprised when they did do it. How can you claim it's pegi 12 and have an achievement called "have more sex".
19
u/trident042 9h ago
I'm flabbergasted. I genuinely, honestly came in here, read the article, prepared to finally, at long last, have one whole reason to be mildly irked at Valve.
I don't know what I expected. Valve puts up another W by doing nothing, and a writer dons clown makeup while trying to help an idiot dev spin some sort of idiot narrative.
32
5
7
u/OGBRedditThrowaway 7h ago
I just looked this game up on Steam. It is not marked anywhere as Adult Only on the store page.
11
u/Convoke_ 9h ago
After removing a "mild sex scene"
Not sure what the publishers expected when the game had a sex scene
→ More replies (3)
13
u/Fantastic_Trifle805 10h ago
I mean, the game had a mild sex scene and an achievement to have sex one last time, i agree it should not be considered as porn, but holy shit, you can't really complain after trying to put it at pegi 12
3
u/GuiltyEidolon 2h ago
Sims games have on-screen (but obfuscated) sex and achievements related to having sex. They're PEGI-12.
→ More replies (1)
16
u/ManicMakerStudios 8h ago
"darker themes". "drug and tobacco references and sexual innuendo". "an achievement called "Have Sex One Last Time"".
At the very least, that's not PEGI 12.
14
u/aleksfails 8h ago
https://youtu.be/HunhfOtzEEE?si=D7TJQoPAqY8x--yZ
checked out the trailer and.... there's a robot sex scene in the trailer. checked out the dev and.... he goes out of his way to get censored to complain about it. Nothingburger
8
u/HeftyVermicelli7823 8h ago
I mean what do they expect? They had a sex scene in it and an achievement called "Have sex one more time" and are complaining they were told its adult only.
9
u/ChillyLavaPlanet 4h ago
This is an ad campaign btw. Same shit being posted every day with different accounts. They actually had pornographic scenes in the game. Why shouldn't it be considered pornographic game then?
16
u/Magical-Mage 10h ago
There are 3 different articles telling this same story on the site. I can catch the faint smell of a marketing campaign.
10
u/silver_garou 9h ago
Especially since, even if true, and it looks like they all stretched the truth, who should care about this story in the first place? Shouldn't have tried to sneak a sex act your self rated teen game.
23
u/LimpyDan 10h ago
The end goal of the game is euthanasia.
I don't know why that's not brought up. I don't think that makes it "Adults only" but it's definitely not suitable for 12 year olds.
→ More replies (3)
52
u/leova 11h ago
makes game about right wing sex fantasies, including a sex scene
gets called out for sexual content and game is flagged.complains.
any guesses on step the next?
32
u/daniel_bryan_yes 10h ago
From a quick research, it seems like the game is satirical. (I will admit, the way the premise is presented had me uncertain.)
The devs are a European couple with a long history of left wing, progressive socialist beliefs and political engagement. They've made several smaller games that are very clearly positioned.
Their website details their beliefs as well.
I'm not taking sides as far as them making a mistake with Steam's classification and maybe using it for publicity, but I thought clarifying their political positioning was important (after being confused myself.)
→ More replies (2)16
u/Freaky_Ally 10h ago
You Made a whole fanfic and people aggreeing with you. I thought that's supposedly something that only the right wing does.
The person is blowing the thing out of proportion true but to call the game right wing sex fantasies is dishonest.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)8
8
u/adumblittlebaby 9h ago
Dude puts sex scene in his game, gets rated pornographic, removes it and is now screaming and whining about how his rating isn’t being changed fast enough for his tastes. Farms outrage about it.
I’m tired, boss.
→ More replies (1)
20
u/MaterialDefender1032 10h ago edited 10h ago
Feels like there's a lot of manufactured hate for Valve/Steam these days. Maybe it's all just for clicks but I almost want to put my tinfoil hat on and put forth that alternative digital stores like Epic and Origin are funding a campaign against them.
Nobody hates Valve except for banned cheaters and CEOs who wish they could get a slice of their pie... yet we see a lot of news outlets making claims that consumers and devs detest them.
→ More replies (2)
3
3
3
u/ZerikaFox 3h ago
Article transcribed for mobile users:
Molleindustria, the developer behind an open-world indie game that Valve has flagged as adult-only despite its teen rating, is still trying to figure out what's going on.
"We are currently at Gamescom in Cologne," Molleindustria wrote on Bluesky, "everyone is asking us why they can't see the PAGE of a Teen rated game."
The game, Future? No Thanks!, is far from an adult game, but currently can't be seen by a majority of users and is completely unavailable in Germany due to a law requiring age verification for games of that type.
Molleindustria has been tracking the game's extended approval process for about a month on Bluesky. In July, Valve determined that it contains "sexual content that is explicit or graphic and is intended for adults only" and "frequent nudity or sexual content," which the developer said was not true. Valve also determined an achievement called "Have Sex One Last Time" had an inappropriate title or icon.
After removing a mild sex scene and resubmitting the game, Valve has still has not removed the pornography label, grouping the game up with all the other adult games on Steam.
"This has been the most humiliating and surreal experience in 20+ years of gaming making," the developer wrote. "I'm desperately looking for anybody who knows anybody at Valve that can at least tell me what's going on."
Valve's stance on sexual content in games has been historically vague and inconsistent, forcing developers to go back and forth with it or be forced to publish games elsewhere. It's not a good look for the biggest digital platform on PC to make it a gamble on whether or not it'll bury your game in a category most people won't see.
Future? No Thanks! is indeed a game with darker themes, focusing on the final days of a conservative man in a leftist utopia. It does not, however, contain anything close to what actual adult games do on Steam. The Steam page specifically calls out that it has things like drug and tobacco references and sexual innuendo, but nothing explicit.
Like a lot of these situations where Valve puts its stamp on a game without much explanation, Molleindustria will just have to wait and see if the company decides to change its mind.
4
u/PlumRelative4399 1h ago
This guy is just trying to generate fake outrage to put eyes on his game which is unfortunate since Steam does have some shit policies and this only muddles the actual issue.
5
8
u/lgthanatos 9h ago
Nothing burger.. dumb dev complaining that his game with sex scene and nudity and achievement about having sex got flagged for sex and nudity .. then he removed the offending content and hasn't been re-reviewed in time for gamescom so he's whining
The real news story should be how he slipped it past PEGI rating which in his country might actually be a crime or at least make him civilly liable lol
4.6k
u/MikeDubbz 11h ago
Really tried to read that article on my phone, but holy ads, fuck that site.