Steam refuses to sell "pickup artist" FMV game Super Seducer 3

midian182

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WTF?! There are plenty of "adults only" games on Steam that include sexual content. Valve doesn't have a problem with this sort of thing, but it does object when said content is full-motion video of real people. It's why Super Seducer 3, an FMV-based pickup artist game, won't be coming to the platform.

PC Gamer reports that Super Seducer 3 is the third entry in a series that lets players learn "state-of-the-art seduction techniques." The FMV title involves using multiple-choice dialogue to help Richard La Ruina, a self-styled "dating guru," be successful on dates.

Super Seducer 3 was due to launch on February 15, but Valve delayed the release as it continued its review. A demo arrived as part of the Steam Game Festival of 2021 last month, lasting only an hour before Valve took it offline.

Sadly for those looking forward to learning "tried and true attraction 'hacks,'" Super Seducer 3 has been removed from the store because it "does not ship sexually explicit images of real people."

La Ruina, who is also one of the game's developers, posted Valve's reasoning on his Twitter account. "We have finished reviewing your latest build and we aren't going to be able to ship Super Seducer 3 on Steam," it writes.

"After multiple product resubmissions and product reviews, we feel we are at an impasse and therefore this decision is final. We do not have any additional feedback or details to share beyond what we have provided in previous conversations."

In his response, La Ruina said he is willing to "take a butcher knife" to the game to make it as "safe" as other FMV titles on the store. He also notes that the Super Seducer 3 has been added to over 61,000 people's wish lists during the last 2 and a half years.

Valve responded to his pleas with a fairly terse: "Hey Richard, we are not going to sell the game or re-review it."

Strangely, the first Super Seducer and its sequel—both FMV games—remain available on Steam. Maybe there's less sexiness in these? One commentator does suggest that the third game is more "extreme" than the prequels.

La Ruina has faced this sort of problem in the past. He tweeted in February that both Epic and GOG said "no" to selling Super Seducer 3, while the first game had its PlayStation release pulled in 2018.

Permalink to story.

 
This is just ridiculous.

But they are trying to keep Pandora's box closed because they're afraid FMV will lead to porn and "snuff" in games.

 
I think being FMV is a poor argument and I highly suspect this is one that was provided by legal council because it makes so little sense, only a Lawyer could dream up liability here but not on the thousands of other hentai games on Steam already.

The only concern is whenever or not Valve will suddenly become a very sex negative company and just get rid of all the current sex games: I bet they really don't want to lose all credit card support like pornhub but well, there's a lot of people with a lot of money that really want a sexless internet and are willing to hijack the language of the left to pretend they've legitimately concerned about people and not just want to continue the religious oppression of sex that's been present for thousands of years.
 
Wait, didn't you just say the free market is always right not even 3 articles ago.
So, which is it then, is it always right or only when it suits your point of view?

Pick a conviction and stand by it.


Did you even read the part in the last comment I made about "someone else will find a way to fulfill the role and offer competition".

Probably not... You were just anxious to challenge my comment.

I would LOVE to explain this too you off of the censors so I can fully express myself without violating Techspot's TOS.
 
Did you even read the part in the last comment I made about "someone else will find a way to fulfill the role and offer competition".

Probably not... You were just anxious to challenge my comment.

I would LOVE to explain this too you off of the censors so I can fully express myself without violating Techspot's TOS.

So another platform will carry it, whats so ridiculous about Valve refusing to for whatever arbitrary reason they see fit? It's their storefront.
Again, free market at work.
 
"What corporations and politicians have in common is that when they make a nonsensical statement, it's because they're lying."
- Me, 2021

This is 100% because of those stupid "Puritanical" sensibilities that are so pervasive in the USA that allow graphic violence and gore (Puritanical my a$$!) but no human beings without clothing. That's right, it's ok to see a young woman murdered with a chainsaw as long she's wearing at least a bra and panties.

Here's Valve/Steam's position (and most other dumbasses):
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and here's Richard La Runa's position (and most realistic people):
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(To those who don't know the history, Larry Flynt won.)
 
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I think the game is getting all of the publicity it needs now. Could probably sell direct at this point and do just fine.

Fairly certain this would have just stayed under the radar except for the few people that seek this type of game out without all this happening.

Worked that way for Detention/Devotion for Red Candle Games.
 
So another platform will carry it, whats so ridiculous about Valve refusing to for whatever arbitrary reason they see fit? It's their storefront.
Again, free market at work.


Again, I'd like to have this conversation off of Techspot's forum so I can thoroughly express myself to you.
 
I think being FMV is a poor argument and I highly suspect this is one that was provided by legal council because it makes so little sense, only a Lawyer could dream up liability here but not on the thousands of other hentai games on Steam already.
I don't think that a lawyer came up with this because a lawyer would automatically know that they don't have a leg to stand on. This is because:
Strangely, the first Super Seducer and its sequel—both FMV games—remain available on Steam. Maybe there's less sexiness in these? One commentator does suggest that the third game is more "extreme" than the prequels.
In legal speak, the two previous titles set a precedent as to what is and what isn't acceptable. Precedents are extremely important because they enforce the rule of law. Judges cannot make arbitrary decisions based on their mood that day if something has been demonstrated to be acceptable in the past. In this case, there are two glaring examples in existence, proving that Valve is making an arbitrary decision based on their mood. This isn't advanced law by any means. In Canada, we learn about precedents in law class at the secondary school level. No lawyer would take this moronic stance (although seeing what lawyers have been trying to argue for on behalf of Trump and the Republicans has boggled my mind as of late).

I think that Richard La Ruina (Dickenson the Ruin? :laughing:) should just tell Valve to stick it and go to Ubisoft. This aversion to nudity is something that the USA has because of its British origins. Ubisoft is French and Continental Europeans don't have that stupid tendency to be offended by nudity. Hell, if not for our French aspect, Canada might have turned out just as bad (and Canada isn't all that great either). I'm sure that Ubisoft would be only too happy to host the game on uPlay, especially after the deserved negative press that Valve has received over this.
 
I don't think that a lawyer came up with this because a lawyer would automatically know that they don't have a leg to stand on. This is because:

In legal speak, the two previous titles set a precedent as to what is and what isn't acceptable. Precedents are extremely important because they enforce the rule of law.

Fair enough. Maybe it was a PR consultant on the "Avoid cancellations" department then.
 
Fairly certain this would have just stayed under the radar except for the few people that seek this type of game out without all this happening.

Worked that way for Detention/Devotion for Red Candle Games.
I agree. Now that I've seen the hype, I actually want to get this game. I've never tried a game like this before but I'm going to assume that it's not going to be an overly-expensive title. FMV is a lot cheaper to make than a real rasturised game. :laughing:
 
So, what I'm gathering from this is that you don't have the ability to have a civil conversation when disagreed with or have a statement challenged.
Got it.
That's what the "Iggy button" is for.

Anyone who refuses to use the ignore feature is a closet masochist. :laughing:
 
I agree. Now that I've seen the hype, I actually want to get this game. I've never tried a game like this before but I'm going to assume that it's not going to be an overly-expensive title. FMV is a lot cheaper to make than a real rasturised game. :laughing:

I'll admit, it made me want to try it just to see what all the fuss is about now. I can't bring myself to support something like this though.
I may not be a bastion of morality, this stuff is beyond cringe.
 
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Time for PornHub to start producing games, I'm sure they have quite the built in audience ready for this sort of thing.
 
I'll admit, it made me want to try it just to see what all the fuss is about now. I can't bring myself to support something like this though.
I may not be a bastion of morality, this stuff is beyond cringe.
I just want to get it so that I can laugh at it. As for morality, rest assured that the Postal and Grand Theft Auto series are far less moral than the Super Seducer series. I never take video games seriously because otherwise I'd never play anything. If I were to translate them into reality, I'd take consensual seduction over murder and mayhem any day. Otherwise I'd be a hypocrite.
 
I just want to get it so that I can laugh at it. As for morality, rest assured that the Postal and Grand Theft Auto series are far less moral than the Super Seducer series. I never take video games seriously because otherwise I'd never play anything. If I were to translate them into reality, I'd take consensual seduction over murder and mayhem any day. Otherwise I'd be a hypocrite.

True, and quite valid points really.
Suppose morals aren't a good point for me to stand on any way as I too quite enjoy rather violent games, among other assorted considered 'amoral' things.

Mostly, it just seems overly creepy. Even if it's not, it's still not something for me. Not really judging if others enjoy or play it.
Who knows, I could be way off.
 
True, and quite valid points really.
Suppose morals aren't a good point for me to stand on any way as I too quite enjoy rather violent games, among other assorted considered 'amoral' things.

Mostly, it just seems overly creepy. Even if it's not, it's still not something for me. Not really judging if others enjoy or play it.
Who knows, I could be way off.
From what I understand (after looking it up), these "Super Seducer" games are actually supposed to be educational for men who don't have any idea how to behave around women. Are they cringey? Sure they are, but they have a purpose. Men want to get laid and women do too but they also want to be treated a certain way so it's pretty much a win-win.

To put the shoe on the other foot, I'll try an implausible situation to explain:

It's like if a lot of women wore makeup that, to you, was so bad that it turned you right off, but you didn't know exactly what it was about it that turned you off, it just did. You wouldn't be a happy camper. To you, there would be a crap-tonne more ugly women around. You'd probably be wishing that there was something, or someone that told them how to fix their makeup because you yourself weren't even sure exactly what it was that reviled you to that degree. That's how women react to things and they don't even know why they do, they just do. This is kinda like... the male version of women's cosmetics instructions. The difference is that men are visually stimulated through makeup, hair and eye colour, body shape, etc. Stimulation of women is more ethereal through things like smell, sound and psychological connection.

How to make yourself more attractive to women because the female mind works differently from ours when it comes to sexual attraction. That's why some guys who are fat, ugly and poor still manage to always have stunningly beautiful women trying to get into their pants. Just like some women have very plain-looking faces but after a makeup artist is done, they look holy-$hit hot. That's what this does for men. It turns us from the Neanderthals that we are into what women are looking for. I remember when I first saw something like this. I remember thinking "They want me to do that?!" and was just blown away. I'm interested to see what this has in it and I always find humour in weird things. I'm kinda twisted that way. I also love seeing new insights into human interaction so I will also find this somewhat interesting. :laughing:

In any case, there's no judging, you like what you like, you don't like what you don't like and that's ok. The problem comes from people who don't like something and so decide that nobody is allowed to like it. :D
 
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