Controversial Game Pulled by Steam after Outcry

Megalith

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Valve announced it would not be shipping one of its most controversial titles to date Wednesday, proving its “lax” policies still have limits. An official statement on the Steam blog suggests games may be assessed on a case-by-case basis, the fate of which could be directly proportional to how much negative media attention they generate. UK politicians have called for a government review of Steam.

While the game hadn’t officially launched yet, its product page was offensive enough to catch attention and widespread condemnation. A Change.org petition gathered nearly 8,000 signatures calling for the game’s removal from Steam. Valve, the company that owns Steam, delisted the title on Wednesday saying, “After significant fact-finding and discussion, we think ‘Rape Day’ poses unknown costs and risks and therefore won’t be on Steam.”
 
What ever happened to that whole greenlight process? Every time I sign into steam now and try to browse for titles I've never heard of, it's virtually all trash. I used to be an avid supporter of indy games but it's at the point of complete trolls for profit now.

Rape day? I'm sure it's a horrid joke and no care went into it besides the shock value of its content, but it's probably no worse then about 1 million other games currently infesting steam.
 
This game just highlights how lazy, complacent, and negligent valve has become.
 
The censors strike again. I wonder if Valve will quietly reinstate it like they did with Hatred.
 
Steam should have just called it straight up trolling as that is what the developers of snuff titles like this are doing they are trolling the snowflakes and people who would never have even known the game existed.
 
In GTA you can beat sex workers to death to get your in game money back, but god forbid you show them doing their job. This is another example of society being hipocrital about violence and sex and ranking either form of abuse above one another. They're both pretty bad and we get entertained by each, so why the out cry now?
 
Just goes to show how fucked up this world is, to even make a game like this is beyond me.

Freedom of expression is cool and all, but seriously - unclear how one could work on a game like this and after a long day - "boy, did I make the world a better place today!"

Of course, giving it attention is the worst response. Ignore shitty game going for shock value, and shitty game will go away.
 
ITT: People can't decide whether they should be outraged at Steam "censorship" or outraged that Steam won't curate its own shitty library.
Two different issues. One is a censorship problem, the other is a warranty of merchantability issue. The crappy, buggy messes that are pumped and dumped need to get gone.
 
In GTA you can beat sex workers to death to get your in game money back, but god forbid you show them doing their job. This is another example of society being hipocrital about violence and sex and ranking either form of abuse above one another. They're both pretty bad and we get entertained by each, so why the out cry now?

Because hookers are obliging to fornication Josiah and our society looks down upon sex workers. Having sex with a hooker, murdering them and stuffing them in your trunk isn't nearly as bad as raping someone and stuffing their body in your trunk.

Also, GTA doesn't have any rape in it.

#hookerlivesmatter
 
yes, lets all rage at steam and not the actual dev.
that'll help loads.
Why rage at anyone?
If we don't want to purchase the title for whatever reason, we're all free to....not fucking purchase it!
I can't see how giving media coverage to something that pretty much nobody even knew existed before is a positive if you're against this game.
To make things worse, agenda-driven douche bags are never satisfied. Valve pulled the game and then get shit on for pulling it because their reasons weren't the proper reasons according to random assholes who think their opinions matter.

Not aimed at you, but in this thread in general.
This is not a censorship issue. Valve isn't censoring anyone. They chose to not sell a particular product. They do not need a reason to do this.
 
Whatever happened to the idea of not purchasing something you do not like? Fucking weird people want to push their view and agendas on other people, ohh wait...
 
Freedom of expression is cool and all, but seriously - unclear how one could work on a game like this and after a long day - "boy, did I make the world a better place today!"

Of course, giving it attention is the worst response. Ignore shitty game going for shock value, and shitty game will go away.

I'm sure reality TV stars watch their shows and think that they've improved the world...
 
The game has a horrible story and really crappy renders. Hopefully it was removed from Steam just because it's a bad game. Though now Steam has to follow and remove the other million crappy games too.
 
So should a game promoting child abuse be allowed to be published?
I would put it this way: anyone should be allowed to build whatever game they want. But if I were a publisher, I would not even consider using my platform to publish such garbage. Steam made a call according to their moral system.

People who make comparisons aka "if they censor or publish THIS then they should censor or publish THAT" is asinine. Steam doesn't owe any developer a spot in their store. It's not "the morals store", it's a software platform Valve owns.

If anyone is so outraged that they can no longer purchase a rape simulator on Steam, I mean truly outraged about this particular *gem* of a game not being accessible, perhaps help the Developer of said title setting up a distribution system. Like the developer said after the ban:
"First step is setting up sale for the game somewhere else," the developer wrote.

"The next step is reaching out to other quality developers whose game(s) were banned, which include pornographic content and nothing illegal, to organise a niche site where you can purchase porn games that are too morally reprehensible for Steam.

"This will take a little time, for example finding the right payment processor for such a project. But don’t worry… it will happen."
(from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...steam-video-game-sexual-assault-a8811771.html)
 
So should a game promoting child abuse be allowed to be published?

Fall Out 3 used to let you beat and kill the children until "people" complained. Since FO3 pretty much can't touch kiddos in games (usually)
 
I'm not defending the game in question one bit. If it's on Steam, so what? I'm not going to play it. It's not my cup of tea, but I'm not going to cry and demand it's removed from Steam.
 
Yeah... this is one of those things...where... you walk a thin line between freedom of expression and advocating real violence. A line must be drawn somewhere.... because if you let this go... i would hate to see whats next, but then again i play GTA and have kicked a few hookers asses to get my money back... so im not one to judge :cautious:
 
Games that feature activities that involve killing other humans is OK, though.

I think this falls into a completely different category. This is something where you'd take part or enjoy raping a person. I think some other game where player is given control over taking pleasure in killing or torturing someone is really fucked up at best. As much as I'm personally against censorship, this really crossed the line. So I say good riddance!
 
they should make it so you could play as a woman.. who is raping men and women..
 
Has anyone actually seen the game live? Who is the developer? This just reeks of bullshit. A game idea invented to rile up the press and to force Steam to implement censorship. The developer "Desk Plant" doesn't have a website, just a sloppily-thrown together rapeday.com that lists a gmail address as the only contact info. There are no images or video of the game. There were screenshots on the steam listing, but they could be easy created with modeling software. There's no proof a game actually existed. No marketing other than the announce and consequent press orgy over the past week.

I call hoax.
 
In GTA you can beat sex workers to death to get your in game money back, but god forbid you show them doing their job. This is another example of society being hipocrital about violence and sex and ranking either form of abuse above one another. They're both pretty bad and we get entertained by each, so why the out cry now?
Well in GTA you can beat EVERYONE to death, and get money out of them. That is one of the fundamental core concepts behind the game, not to show you sex every time you spend $50 in game dollars on a hooker.
 
Has anyone actually seen the game live? Who is the developer? This just reeks of bullshit. A game idea invented to rile up the press and to force Steam to implement censorship. The developer "Desk Plant" doesn't have a website, just a sloppily-thrown together rapeday.com that lists a gmail address as the only contact info. There are no images or video of the game. There were screenshots on the steam listing, but they could be easy created with modeling software. There's no proof a game actually existed. No marketing other than the announce and consequent press orgy over the past week.

I call hoax.

And description was 2d scenes created with 3d models. So basically it was a choose your own adventure book but with raping. It sounded like either a hoax or someone just wanting to screw with steam and put just enough effort into this to rile everyone up.

Some men just want to watch the world burn.
 
I'll start by saying the game I find to be personally offensive not just for its content, but also its low level of technical quality. However, without more knowledge on exactly how Valve made such a decision I can't see the justification for having it pulled that, save for a single potential line of thought, wouldn't make other titles vulnerable.

Lets not forget that in February 2019 (I think) Valve went on record posting that they were not going to be "offensive content police" and restrict games simply because someone thought it tasteless or otherwise objected to content within. They were also going to add more filters to be sure that you wouldn't just "stumble upon" adult or other content if you didn't want it, and though I agree they can do more to allow for configuration of these filters they've made a start. Thus, they would only remove (for content) games that were "actually illegal, or just trolling". I strongly support this view and feel it is the responsible one for Valve, such a large presence in the market, to make a commitment to free expression for games of all kinds. Now of course actually illegal content is pretty narrow, but "just trolling" is of course subjective and it comes down to how Valve uses that power.

Note that one element that I feel Valve could improve however isn't content, but rather quality. I personally feel they'd spend more time policing basic Unity, Unreal etc.. asset flips, broken games, knock-offs, scams and near-scams, and other games of low technical quality. However, this too requires more attention to detail so that well-meaning indie developers aren't pushed off the platform. I'd rather they consider spending their moderation time on this kind of element instead of the possible "offensiveness" of content.

In any event, these policies have allowed for many games to make their way onto Steam that many would consider offensive. From the ultra violent to those with sexual focus, they have all proven acceptable to be sold on the platform. Consider the amount of visual novels with erotic content or titles like 3D Kanojo - you can object to the content, but nobody can say it isn't a well made game. So with all this in mind, I am wondering what makes "Rape Day" so different. From what I can tell, its a lower quality visual novel with crappy 3D art... but if we banned that, we'd have to ban lots of other titles? If its sexual content focus, there are lots of other titles with more active/blatant content than a visual novel yet they remain. If it is the concept or depiction of rape or unwilling sexual content, well... that is often depicted in many forms as a plot device, mechanic, or choice in many adult games including eroge/visual novels. So what makes this different? Is it the name perhaps? If they called it "A Bad, Bad Night" would it be permitted?

From my understanding depictions of offensive content can't be enough without setting precedent for other titles to be removed (which is exactly what some wish Valve to do), so all I can think of here is that the "trolling" clause is in effect. That is, Valve figures that this developer has created a low quality, inflammatory content, inflammatory named game in order to either specifically do harm to Valve and/or generate controversy without any intent to provide an actual game of value. That is the only conclusion I can see that doesn't somehow cause Valve to violate their own stated policies and puts lots of other content - including quality-made, regardless if you enjoy its thematic element or not - in jeopardy.
 
Fantasy rape game: the most deplorable thing ever created by man.

In real life: millions raped yearly based on a religion: "normal part of their culture".
 
"Fact 2" doesn't excuse "fact 1."

I wouldn't play it, but people are definitely over-reacting. Half the games ever made involve killing someone. Are you saying being raped is worse than being murdered?

This just shows the huge hypocrisy of the left. Millions of REAL people are raped in the world (especially from one religion), yet two shits isn't given. But the left also thinks "thought crimes" are worse than real crimes.
 
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