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"It's extremely frustrating and also f*cked up" - one of the world's best indie studios is facing shock closure following confounding Steam ban (www.eurogamer.net)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/games@sh.itjust.works
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[–] 17 points 11 months ago (4 children)

I think I read a different article because there are some key factors here:

  1. (not super important but overlooked here) The “horse” is a woman
  2. (definitely important) The scene was only an unfinished scene still being worked out
  3. Valve has given no recourse or appeals process despite good faith efforts

I’m not trying to trash Valve, and FUCK child abuse, but I definitely think Valve should have handled this more fairly. Given the established premise of the game, I don’t think the existence of that scene in an unfinished state was a move consistent with “hey let’s make a pedo game”.

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  • [–] 21 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Eh, if steam saw some of the content as involving a minor and they are sick of dealing with games trying to toe the line before and likely after release I could see them defaulting to a no do overs policy. Especially if the game dev doesn't sell enough games to make the potential legal hassle necessary.

    It would be far better if they pointed out what they are using for criteria for sure and allow at least one do over in case of a misunderstanding though.

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  • [–] 10 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Right. I’m not saying anything like “Steam must allow all content because free speech” - I’m just saying if someone is trying to make a game with complex or even weird themes, Valve should at least participate in a conversation instead of dealing out irrevocable absolute judgments based on content that isn’t even finished.

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  • [–] 20 points 11 months ago

    After reading a couple more articles I get the strong feeling that steam/valve'a early communication about concerns with the live actor portions likely did convey what they had issues with and the dev is trying to be coy about it by speculating on a scene that magically works better with a young adult. I'm leaning towards them making the change because of expecting the other storefronts to have the same issues.

    So they kind of did get more than one chance, but they are focused on the one with the rejection.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 11 months ago

    (not super important but overlooked here) The “horse” is a woman

    I'm sorry for accidentally misgendering a grown adult who's still naked with a young girl riding on top. I guess that triggers a different fetish then.

    (definitely important) The scene was only an unfinished scene still being worked out

    True but they still thought it was a great idea to depict this scene and then only change their minds not because they realized their mistake but because it works better with an adult doing the riding story-wise.

    I definitely think Valve should have handled this more fairly.

    The reviewer asked for a playable copy after being unsure from screenshots and text alone. I think that's pretty fair.

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