Monster Girl Tavern Banned on Steam
I have some difficult news to share about Monster Girl Tavern. During Steam's pre-release review, Valve rejected the game and permanently banned its current Steam AppID from distribution.
I know a lot of people were really looking forward to seeing the game release on Steam, and for me personally this is the second game rejected in a row (One Pump Chump was rejected too), which now equates to over a year of work refused by Steam and putting me out of a lot of money. It's an even bigger shame for Monster Girl Tavern, because it's a sequel to a game already on Steam that a lot of people were excited for, and I had big plans to support this game with tons of updates.
Valve's stated concern was that some content could, in their judgement, be interpreted as depicting sexual conduct involving a minor. To be completely clear: the game does not contain sexual content involving underage characters, and characters participating in adult content are adults.
However, I can see several places where I can see how there may have been miscommunications. In particular, some scenes put far too much emphasis on characters being young-looking and being checked for entry into adult establishments. I thought that a character being ID'd to get into a tavern would be in the clear, but since it implies the character looks young enough to be ID'd, Steam may have deemed it a grey area.
My intention when writing those scenes was actually to make it unambiguous that the characters were adults. Steam's policy works differently: explicitly stating that a character is 18 does not necessarily resolve the issue if their appearance or surrounding context can still be interpreted as age-ambiguous.
Had I understood that distinction earlier, I would never have written those scenes that way. Now it's too late, and the game is banned with no changes allowed.
I contacted Steamworks Support after the ban because the original decision stated that modified resubmissions of the app would not be accepted. I specifically asked whether Valve would permit either:
a substantially revised version with all potentially problematic material removed; or
an all-ages version with all explicit sexual content removed.
Valve has now replied and all they did was confirm that the original rejection stands. Unfortunately, they did not answer my question about whether a substantially different version under a new AppID would be permitted, so I have submitted another question.
What does this mean for the game?
Right now, it means the version of Monster Girl Tavern that was submitted to Steam cannot release there.
It does not mean I am abandoning the game. The next update is the largest yet and I am continuing to work on it.
I am currently investigating three possibilities:
Whether Valve will explicitly permit a substantially revised Steam edition.
Whether an all-ages Steam edition is possible.
Distribution outside Steam if Valve will not permit either option.
I don't want to promise which of those routes will work until I have concrete answers.
I know this is awful news, particularly for people who have supported this project for a long time. It's also devastating from my side. This represents an enormous amount of work and investment, and Steam was obviously a major part of the release plan.
I will keep you informed as I work out what happens next. As soon as Valve answers the question about whether a revised edition is permissible, I'll post another update.
Thank you for sticking with me.
Comments (39)
Definitely release on gog
If you add a prompt to check their id as a bartender you could have fun making a license for each girl. Idk how difficult it would be to reprogram that into the game but its a way of showing age without any doubte
At this point, maybe just take a look at GoG.
That's fucked up. And it's especially insane if no revisions are allowed.
That's sad, and I think there are already games with worse content on steam, so I can't fully understand their decision, unless it was automated. I could name games, but I don't want to stir trouble, and I'm not saying that those other games should be taken down. Personally, I wouldn't give up on steam, I'd try again, though, I fully understand your frustration, and it would be a lot easier, if they would clarify on what to modify for a better chance/guranteed approval. I wish you all the best. (EDIT: Oh, yeah, now that I read some comments here, yes the Fairy(ies) could be a problem indeed.)
Man, that fucking sucks. I hope that this gets resolved, because I, as well as a ton of other people, have been super looking forward to the game. I'll still be able to play it here, obviously, but man, I hope that you can indeed be able to upload it to Steam. Best of luck resolving this issue and I'm looking forward to playing the completed game.
No one else has mentioned them here, and granted I'm not a dev and only recently found them myself, but Kagura Games is potentially another option. They have no problem with NSFW content, and I don't think they're concerned with that little four letter word.
What about DLSite?
Thanks a lot, Visa and Mastercard
Ugh. That's awful. I do hope you end up with a viable alternative release plan. The raw exposure is orders of magnitude less but there are other platforms like as others mentioned itch.io, or maybe JAST, mangagamer, or denpasoft are possibilities? Honestly with the way adult content is handled I've come around to purposely avoiding buying games like this on Steam and always try to find them first on the other platforms that don't do censorship and force separate patches. If you were to end up on Steam and also any other major adult VN storefront, I'd buy it elsewhere first (or direct from you on Patreon, which I have for your other games). I've thought about buying FWB2 on Steam only for the sake of leaving you a good review, but I prefer paying you directly and assume that the revenue share is better for you on Patreon. If an all ages release is possible it would still be good to have it on Steam, but I suspect a good part of your audience is moving the same way I am and deliberately avoiding Steam for adult games in favor of the other platforms that are less hassle to buy from. Maybe in the long run being pushed to release through other channels could work out? I hope so anyway. I'll buy in for the final relase of MGT however I can, wherever it ends up.
So sorry about that. I bet alot of people wanted to play it on Steam. But at least you can still play it normally on other platforms. I've been thinking about playing it soon. I've never really been into it before except your art. Keep doing good pls!🙏
i think its misteral, the imps, the slime girls, priscilla and clover the maybes are loralei, erika, and the fairy's that are causing problems and for one pump chump there are a few recurring characters that blocked that game as well
One Pump Chump was never blocked for those characters though, it was IP issues
I hope options 1 or 2 are viable. One could just buy the revised version and then download the patch (or the whole game from sites like f95)
If this is a sequel then what was the game before it?
Just don't give up please. It's a great game and there are other very large platforms like itch, and steam has been known to revoke decisions like these before.
That sucks. I would prefer to get the game on Itch or GOG anyway, but I know it's going to cost you in sales. And it's not just you, Steam has been cracking down on adult content ever since Visa and Mastercard started putting pressure on them. Itch.io got smacked too and delisted all their paid adult content, but I think GOG got away mostly unscathed for now.
I'd highly recommend that if you can get away with it just doing what Otaku plan does with their games
That's truly devastating to hear. I can't even imagine how it feels to experience. I sincerely hop you don't have to change any major plans for the worse as a result of this. MKT is one of my favorite NSFW games I've ever played, and I'll be around for it whatever direction you decide to go with the plans.
That sucks hope you get it sorted out
GoG! PLZ! (at least some version)
I don't get this, steam blocks a game with actual work put into it but a bunch of those ai generated games are allowed to flood in.
i will always support your game projects sorry bout steam its time to create a new game hub that caters to the nsfw games like a steam type
Itch or GOG release?
The real reason Valve banned it was because the servers couldn't handle the banger you've cooked up. But in all seriousness that sucks to hear, especially when you make such amazing works. I hope you find some favorable work around to this issue.
Rename it to something else? Rework the characters and BAM!
Well there's always the option to release your own launcher. That's also going to require advertising, but it is an avenue.
That really, really sucks dude. If you do end up being able to get an all-ages version on to steam, perhaps you could do so and then have an R18 patch available from your patreon? I know you’ve never done that before but I’ve seen a lot of other H-games do that. Regardless, good luck and don’t get too discouraged by this.
Ahh the old Steam rejects a game I'm looking forward to feeling really wish Steam was atleast consistent on these rulings because while I don't see it all the time I do wish it happened less. All in all Steam needs to get rid of the people/person who keeps rejecting anime/anime like nsfw games.
You know there could be an 18+ version if you release it as a Nekopara-type DLC, right? Beyond that, you really need to have more options than just Steam, like itch.io
This is bullshit.
Honestly, between the fairies and the mosquito girl I can see where Valve is coming from, but also it's a little obvious that that is not the case after reading through the dialogue of said characters, I hope that you are able to get this onto Steam, in any way, the stuff you make is awesome
What about GOG? They're generally super chill about NSFW games and it's a huge storefront.
It might be better to look elsewhere to release it.
GOG maybe?
Sorry about that, I believe it'll work out still!
Damn that really sucks. I hope you can get this resolved because, myself included, a ton of people are looking forward to this game ⭐️
Sorry to hear that, alot of companies use AI bots to flag stuff instead of having real people using common sense. Hope they reverse their decision in your favor, don't let this hold you back, your fans and supporters got you!
Maybe release it on itch.io?