Steam'S New Roadblock For Adult Games: No More Early Access

Valve Shakes Up the Adult Game Scene

Valve has quietly pulled the plug on Early Access submissions for games with explicit sexual content on Steam. Over the past week, developers have been hitting a roadblock, receiving rejection messages that their mature-themed games don’t meet the Early Access criteria. The rejections have left many in the gaming community scratching their heads, as Valve hasn’t offered a clear explanation for the sudden change.

The Industry's Guesswork

Speculation is rife that this decision could be tied to pressure from payment giants like Stripe, PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard, which are tightening their policies on adult content. Developers such as Dammitbird, creators of the adult adventure 'Heavy Hearts', have publicly shared their frustrations. "The general rule is that your game should be about 65% done before EA. We’re around 70% finished, so the timing was right. But suddenly, without warning, the rules changed," they told GamesMarkt.

“At first, we thought there was some mistake. But with the silence from Valve, we’re left in the dark," commented a developer from Blue Fairy Media Games.

The Fallout for Developers

Developers are facing a new challenge: without an approved build, their store pages can’t pass review, complicating efforts to open wishlists until launch. For indie creators who depend on Early Access for visibility and feedback, this is a significant hindrance. Games like 'The Restoration of Aphrodisia' by Blue Fairy Media Games and 'Monolilith' by Malerouille have also faced similar rejections, leading to weeks of uncertainty.

Alternative Strategies Emerge

Though existing adult games in Early Access, like 'Wicked Island', remain available for now, concerns linger about future updates or potential removal. As a workaround, some developers are considering launching "safe" censored versions on Steam, while distributing uncensored patches through platforms like Patreon or itch.io. Others might bypass Early Access altogether, choosing to release complete builds instead.