Did Valve just ban a game for political pressure?

[alteredStateOfTheEast()]

Recently, a controversial game called "No Mercy" was going to be released on Steam. It was rightly causing outrage due to its disturbing premise. While it’s absolutely valid to criticize the game’s content and challenge it culturally, Valve’s decision to remove it from Steam raises serious concerns about their monopolistic control over the PC gaming market.Valve’s choice to ban a game based on pressure from advocacy groups, reportedly women’s rights organizations Is just simply jarring and out of character considering what has been on the market.


Let’s examine Steam’s marketplace more closely:
* War games like Call of Duty or Battlefield let players simulate combat, including acts that could be seen as atrocities in real-world contexts.

* Grand Theft Auto has faced decades of criticism for allowing players to commit virtual crimes, from mass murder to violence against sex workers, yet remains a bestseller.

* Steam hosts games with explicit content, including titles with themes of incest or sexual violence, often under minimal scrutiny.

* Hatred, a game centered on a mass shooter indiscriminately killing civilians, was briefly banned but ultimately allowed after backlash against Valve’s initial decision.

The critics of "No Mercy" are within their rights to condemn its premise, and cultural pushback against harmful content is part of free discourse. But why stop there? If Valve can ban one game based on public outcry, what’s to prevent other groups like Jack Thompson’s anti-violence crusaders in the 2000s from demanding bans on war games, shooters, or anything deemed offensive? With global tensions rising, someone could argue war games glorify conflict and should be removed too.
The issue isn’t just about one game; it’s about who gets to decide what’s acceptable. This is inconsistent and should of been left alone.

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by alteredStateOfTheEast():

Valve’s choice to ban a game

Valve can not ban games, the developer/publisher is free to sell their game somewhere else.
If the game would be banned (in whatever country) you would not be able to buy it anywhere.

[Ogami]

This is not the first time this happened. A few years ago there was another rape sex game that got removed before release.
The reason is the same as this time, Valve thinks those games are purely published for the controvery and the shocking content and not out of any artistical merit.
They consider those games "troll games" that are only meant to stir up controvery and outrage.
And they always had the option to reject the publishment of games like this from on the platform and did so before.

[Komarimaru]

Valve had nothing to do with it. It was banned in many countries.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by alteredStateOfTheEast():

Valve’s decision to remove it from Steam raises serious concerns about their monopolistic control over the PC gaming market.

No it doesn't. Let's take a look at the real issue;

No Mercy appeared on the PC gaming platform Steam in early April. The game allowed players to control a character who rapes, tortures and kills women. It did not carry an age rating or content warning and was described by some users and critics as a "rape simulator."

No Mercy features scenes in which the player rapes a woman, who then becomes pregnant, gives birth to a baby, and is then murdered along with her newborn.

The game was created by developer Zerat Games and included scenes of extreme violence and sexual assault. It was available for a short time before being removed.

Banned in the UK, Canada, and Australia

No Mercy was banned in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Following these bans, Zerat Games voluntarily removed the game from Steam entirely, stating: "We don't intend to fight the whole world."

It was banned in countries for really good reasons.

[Thermal Lance]

Originally posted by Mad Scientist:

Originally posted by alteredStateOfTheEast():

Valve’s decision to remove it from Steam raises serious concerns about their monopolistic control over the PC gaming market.

No it doesn't. Let's take a look at the real issue;

No Mercy appeared on the PC gaming platform Steam in early April. The game allowed players to control a character who rapes, tortures and kills women. It did not carry an age rating or content warning and was described by some users and critics as a "rape simulator."

No Mercy features scenes in which the player rapes a woman, who then becomes pregnant, gives birth to a baby, and is then murdered along with her newborn.

The game was created by developer Zerat Games and included scenes of extreme violence and sexual assault. It was available for a short time before being removed.

Banned in the UK, Canada, and Australia

No Mercy was banned in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Following these bans, Zerat Games voluntarily removed the game from Steam entirely, stating: "We don't intend to fight the whole world."

It was banned in countries for really good reasons.

Some games really makes me lose hope in mankind. What the hell are these people thinking?

[ุ]

The Dev put out a tweet that said they pulled it due to it being de-listed across multiple countries, due to their laws.

Zero to do with Steam.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by Leonardo Da Pinchi:

The Dev put out a tweet that said they pulled it due to it being de-listed across multiple countries, due to their laws.

Zero to do with Steam.

Really makes one wonder why anyone would try to defend a "game" like that as well or blame steam rather than the dev for making something like that.

[Zefar]

Originally posted by Mad Scientist:

Originally posted by Leonardo Da Pinchi:

The Dev put out a tweet that said they pulled it due to it being de-listed across multiple countries, due to their laws.

Zero to do with Steam.

Really makes one wonder why anyone would try to defend a "game" like that as well or blame steam rather than the dev for making something like that. :cozycastondeath:

This is not the first time it has happened either. I remember the previous game someone was complaining about and adult content with children in it.

Weird choice to defend such games.

[ุ]

Originally posted by Mad Scientist:

Originally posted by Leonardo Da Pinchi:

The Dev put out a tweet that said they pulled it due to it being de-listed across multiple countries, due to their laws.

Zero to do with Steam.

Really makes one wonder why anyone would try to defend a "game" like that as well or blame steam rather than the dev for making something like that. :cozycastondeath:

Eh, it's a pretty common sexual fantasy, still nothing to do with Steam though. Given there's other games that depict SA in the marketplace as well.

Kinda depends how the game's played out, in all honesty. I mean...if it exists simply to scratch an itch, or vent a sexual fantasy that's one thing.

However. if it's some love letter to SA power fantasies that exist in incel cultures to promote the want to hurt women as a "norm". Well, then we've got an issue.

Fact of the matter is, Steam didn't pull the game. The Dev did after realizing how unpopular it'd be.

[ุ]

Originally posted by Zefar:

Originally posted by Mad Scientist:

Really makes one wonder why anyone would try to defend a "game" like that as well or blame steam rather than the dev for making something like that. :cozycastondeath:

This is not the first time it has happened either. I remember the previous game someone was complaining about and adult content with children in it.

Weird choice to defend such games.

Steam draws the line with minors or characters that appear to be minors in sexual situations, yeah. Other than that, it's a bit of "anything goes".

[Clockeye]

Originally posted by alteredStateOfTheEast():

Recently, a controversial game called "No Mercy" was going to be released on Steam. It was rightly causing outrage due to its disturbing premise. While it’s absolutely valid to criticize the game’s content and challenge it culturally, Valve’s decision to remove it from Steam raises serious concerns about their monopolistic control over the PC gaming market.Valve’s choice to ban a game based on pressure from advocacy groups, reportedly women’s rights organizations Is just simply jarring and out of character considering what has been on the market.


Let’s examine Steam’s marketplace more closely:
* War games like Call of Duty or Battlefield let players simulate combat, including acts that could be seen as atrocities in real-world contexts.

* Grand Theft Auto has faced decades of criticism for allowing players to commit virtual crimes, from mass murder to violence against sex workers, yet remains a bestseller.

* Steam hosts games with explicit content, including titles with themes of incest or sexual violence, often under minimal scrutiny.

* Hatred, a game centered on a mass shooter indiscriminately killing civilians, was briefly banned but ultimately allowed after backlash against Valve’s initial decision.

The critics of "No Mercy" are within their rights to condemn its premise, and cultural pushback against harmful content is part of free discourse. But why stop there? If Valve can ban one game based on public outcry, what’s to prevent other groups like Jack Thompson’s anti-violence crusaders in the 2000s from demanding bans on war games, shooters, or anything deemed offensive? With global tensions rising, someone could argue war games glorify conflict and should be removed too.
The issue isn’t just about one game; it’s about who gets to decide what’s acceptable. This is inconsistent and should of been left alone.

true

[Paratech2008]

Many games come close to crossing the line and many people may believe they do, Senran Kagura, One Neptunia game that has stripping to underwear, sever "Sakura" games, Hunie Pop, Hunie Pop 2, etc....

[Quenlin]

Originally posted by Mad Scientist:

Originally posted by Leonardo Da Pinchi:

The Dev put out a tweet that said they pulled it due to it being de-listed across multiple countries, due to their laws.

Zero to do with Steam.

Really makes one wonder why anyone would try to defend a "game" like that as well or blame steam rather than the dev for making something like that. :cozycastondeath:

Because some people support freedom of expression and freedom of the press, even when such content is obscene or repulsive. That, and you can simply follow this very basic rule of fiction; "If you don't like it, don't consume it".

[Paratech2008]

Thing is some countries have laws different than the US.

IIRC even consensual pictures of small breasted adult women is considered child porn.

[Amaterasu]

Originally posted by Paratech2008:

Thing is some countries have laws different than the US.

IIRC even consensual pictures of small breasted adult women is considered child porn.

Not in the US, we here understand the difference between the proportions of an adult woman and a child. A person's head doesn't really change much in size, unlike the rest of a person's body, which *does* grow in size by comparison. So we can take a person's head... and compare it to the rest of their body and see what percentage of that person is their head and determine if it is a child or not.

And yes, this works with people that have dwarfism too. Which kind of torpedoes the hell out of the "Petite women" argument.