What just happened? After announcing a policy of ‘anything goes’ in 2018, Valve has backtracked and decided that a controversial new game called ‘Rape Day’ is too risky to allow on their Steam store. Set for release in April, the game’s store page has been removed following ‘significant fact-finding and discussion’ by Valve.
'Rape Day' is a zombie apocalypse game with a twist that many have baulked at – on top of the usual survival mechanics, players can rape and sexually assault female NPCs. Before it was taken down, the game’s Steam page contained several warnings, informing players that the ‘visual novel’ contained violence, sexual assault, non-consensual sex, necrophilia and incest.
Last year we reported that Valve would soon allow virtually anything on Steam, but the controversial "rape" game has apparently crossed a line. They released a statement on Friday saying they have “decided not to distribute this game on Steam.”
Valve’s statement doesn’t go into detail about the game itself, merely citing “unknown costs and risks” if they went ahead and released it on Steam. Many people have pointed to Valve’s blog post in 2018 where they said it was not their place as a publisher to decide what games should or should not be available for purchase. At the time, Valve claimed “we’ve decided that the right approach is to allow everything onto the Steam Store, except for things that we decide are illegal, or straight up trolling.” It doesn’t seem that ‘Rape Day’ falls into those two categories, but the subject matter still appears to be beyond the pale for Valve.
Desk Plant, the studio behind the game, said they will look into other platforms to ensure their game sees the light of day.
https://www.techspot.com/news/79111-valve-wont-sell-sexual-assualt-game-rape-day.html
