Super Seducer 3 creator Richard La Ruina has announced the game has been banned from Steam, despite multiple alterations and no nudity.
As previously reported, the game uses live-action video footage to create multiple choice dating and pick-up scenarios, and continues the series that began in 2018. The series is known for its ridiculous options that provoke exaggerated responses, and use of scantily clad real women in its videos.
Valve had previously removed the demo for Super Seducer 3 for its adult material, causing the game to be delayed. La Ruina stated certain scenes needed to be altered or removed entirely in order to pass Steam’s standards. This is in spite of the previous Super Seducer games being on the platforms.
Now, La Ruina has announced via Twitter Super Seducer 3 will not be launching on Steam and outright banned; despite the changes made. La Ruina attached images of messages from Steam moderators. Therein they state “Steam does not ship sexually explicit images of real people,” and they are not at an impasse after multiple resubmissions of the game.
Valve stated they “do not have any additional feedback or details to share beyond what we have provided in previous conversations.” They also offered to refund the Steam Direct fee, or that it be granted for a future game sold on Steam.
La Ruina replied that he was surprised, as prior messages gave him no indication this was his “last shot,” and that the prior two messages had discussed the feedback and approval; never cancellation. “I do not feel like we are at any kind of impasse,” La Ruina explains. “I’m ready to take a butcher knife to the game and take weeks to make all kind [sic] of edits.”
La Ruina explains in his message that he had worked with a lawyer to ensure the game did not violate the laws Valve mentioned in the prior message, and explains there and on Twitter that the game contains no nudity. He also criticizes Valve’s lack of feedback on what they felt was inappropriate.
Despite begging for more information and another chance (especially since the game had been rejected by the Epic Games Store and GOG), Valve replied “we are not going to sell the game or re-review it,” and re-iterated the Steam Direct refund or roll-over.
On Twitter La Ruina further stated Valve had rejected both uncensored and censored versions of the game, along with a demo that had also been censored. He also claims that Valve “said that if I got an ESRB-M rating that would not affect their decision.”
In spite of everything, La Ruina states that the game will be released this week. We shall keep you informed as we learn more.
The situation has comparisons to what occurred with adult open-world RPG Evenicle 2. It was also announced to be rejected by Steam (however the game does have graphic adult content); in spite of the first game with similar content being available.
Previously, Steam had edged away from adult only content- with adult developers around late October 2017 to mid 2018 stating they could no longer provide information to uncensoring patches on Steam, and later claims they had to remove all adult content from their games.
The latter later stated to be an error– as all adult only games were being re-reviewed. In June 2018 Valve stated that it would “allow everything” on Steam other than “trolling” or illegal content. The new adult filter system would later be implemented, but there have been cases of games still being removed.
While the first totally uncensored adult only game did come to Steam in September 2018, others have not been so lucky. Visual novel Hello Good-Bye was banned even after patching the game appropriate for all ages.
The Taimanin Asagi series was removed from Steam a few weeks after it was announced to be coming to Steam after accusations that the game’s characters were underage. Some believed this was caused by some characters wearing a school uniform. It would later return as a free trial demo devoid of any sexual content.
Visual novel Bokuten – Why I Became an Angel was also removed in late July 2020, despite it being an all ages version. The publisher later stated the game was removed for “false, invalid reasons.” After an investigation by both parties, a valid issue was discovered, removed, and returned to Steam.
HunieDev had initially confirmed that HuniePop2 would be censored on Steam (while heavily hinting at an uncensoring patch being available), but later revealed the game would be uncensored on all platforms apart from GOG. The game instead features a toggle in the options menu for adult content.
Steam users in Germany discovered in late December 2020 that Steam blocked all adult only games in the region. It was theorized this was due to German laws, and Steam’s age verification is not sufficient enough to prevent underage users from accessing the content.