Hazelnut Latte 18+ Patch? Let's Discuss!
Hello everyone! We want to discuss something we are strongly considering with the community.
Developing Hazelnut Latte has been difficult, and one of the biggest challenges has been Steam.
We mentioned it in a previous progress report, but it's worth repeating.
Over a year ago, we tried to get a demo of Hazelnut Latte on Steam Next Fest, but they declined. The reason?
Anyone with a firing synapse in their brain knows this isn't remotely accurate. But once Steam has made a decision, they stick with it. Unless we can cause a giant storm, they won't do anything. And those only happen for non-adult games. Adult games are seen as lesser, so it would be hard to get massive online support for Steam to notice the error and fix it.
At first, we were told this only affected the demo, but apparently it affects the entire game. As a result, we've had to shut down our Hazelnut Latte Steam page and lost 3 years of wishlists.
So, what do we do? Do we try to get our game up on a new page and hope the person testing it this time is normal? We certainly could. But then what if the person testing the first Expansion Pack hates us? Or the second?
We'd basically need to get lucky 4 times in a row, and then be lucky if we ever want to do fun DLCs.
I don't know about y'all, but I doubt we'll get that lucky. So, what do we do?
Have a free 18+ Patch!
For those who don't know, some adult games on Steam get around the Steam review system by simply... removing all the adult content.
This is completely allowed because Steam only cares about the content it is hosting on its service. Any outside content is not their jurisdiction because you are not getting it from Steam.
So it is perfectly fine to release a game on Steam with zero adult content and then download a free patch from the developer that adds all the adult content back into the game.
It's the same as you installing a mod, just one made by the developers.
How will this help?
This way, we won't run into the problem of a Steam tester seeing a hot guy and thinking, "This must be a minor!" They will just play a lovey-dovey visual novel about a guy going on dates with cute guys and hot trans people where nothing explicit happens.
This means the review/acceptance process will be much easier!
This also means we will be more discoverable on Steam because we won't be flagged as adult/sexual content. We'll just be a dating sim with kissing and hand-holding. No reason to hold us back if we're doing nothing wrong! ;)
People will discover Hazelnut Latte, play the whole game, and might have no clue that there was supposed to be a ton of sex happening the whole time. Which is honestly not the end of the world. The game is very character/story heavy anyway. I know many of you are invested in the narrative regardless of the sex.
The unpatched Steam release can also be safely streamed, which may attract an even bigger audience.
You can buy the game on your main Steam account, and no one will know the truth...
Not to mention, Itch is still super weird about adult games on their platform, so if there is no adult content, they should calm down too.
All things considered, it feels like nothing but wins to us! Easier to release, a wider audience, and no chance of Steam deciding one day it hates us.
How will the patch work?
Games on Steam that also do this make it pretty easy. A game's Steam page can link to the developer's website. On there, they usually have a section for Patches. You can download the patch for free and either drop it into the game's files or run an .exe to install it.
If we do this, we want to make it as easy as possible for players to download and unlock the adult content.
If you don't have the patch, the game will play mostly the same, except we'll likely just fade out before a lewd scene starts and fade back in once it is over. Like watching a movie. Or something; we haven't 100% decided.
How will players know there is a patch?
For obvious reasons, we as the devs can't say on our Steam page that there is a patch. That is where the community comes in!
I'm sure the top review of the game will start with someone saying "GET THE 18+ PATCH," and there will likely be Steam Discussions, Twitter threads, etc.
Likely some people won't know, but hopefully you all will let them know ;)
Is this decision final?
As the developers, we obviously don't see any problems with this plan.
But we also wanted to ask everyone how they felt.
So we want to open the floor for people to voice their thoughts/feelings/concerns.
Let us know what you think!
And stay Rad!
Comments (51)
Radlord, you helped making a lewd game about Gwen from Ben 10, and she is a 10 yo
She was aged up and attending college. I also fail to see what that has to do with anything.
So if we get it from patreon, would we still have to download the patch or how would it basically work for mobile users?
This does not affect mobile users since Steam does not sell mobile games
I say you guys go for it and focus on accessibility, alot of people wont bother instaling mods but its genuinely so easy especially with steam games, so im hopeful this would work out. Aside from that I do love the wholesome scenes in this series so its interesting to see that the main game on steam could potentially be fully wholesome
I think the game could easily work as a wholesome dating sim so I imagine a lot of players won't even realize it should have porn xD
And as a Free DLC? Because that is way more visible than a free patch.
If you mean a free DLC on Steam then we'd run into the same issue as before. A DLC on Steam would need to be approved by Steam so if they decide once again our content is bad, we're back in this situation.
I use the mobile anyway lol so steam doesn't really bother me
I think This is in a rare twist a blessing in disguise since as you said this way the game gets to a wider audience and gets around steams sometimes annoying flag system. Which seeing this from when it was just a demo I’d hate to see it killed now so I say go for it
That's how I see it. I'd rather not be censored, but if it means I can now game the system to reach more people... why the hell not? We're still gonna make a porn game xD
Steam doesn't know its ass from a hole in the ground. Doesn't allow Hazelnut Latte but gambling.. sure come on right in and steal kids money🙄🙄
I think it's baffling that this even needs to happen, considering the myriad of NSFW games that are on steam, and considering the fact that they have an "ADULT CONTENT" section, but whatever. If it makes the process of getting the game out to the masses, then in that aspect it's a good idea. Still sucks that it has to be that way, but workarounds exist for a reason I guess.
It's so odd how Steam is so selective about this kind of stuff. I've seen a few devs take similar routes though. One had an entire website dedicated to adding 18+ content in there "support" page of every game they sold for years. That is until Steam eased up on them. No clue what they did to get Steam off their back. The dev was Orcsoft btw. Publisher Fakku. Well, I hope everything works out. Thanks for the update though.
Dumb question maybe but why not include the 18+ patch as free dlc on the steam page? I've seen & own a handful of visual novels on steam with a system like that. The main game is sfw and the 18+ dlc just adds anything spicy back in for those who want it. Just curious if you wanted to go that route as an option. Also sorry to hear about the delisting of the game on there as of now. Had it wishlisted for a few years now and am looking forward to wishlists it again when the time comes
Because that 18+ content needs to be reviewed by Steam if its a dlc on their store and as we have seen, Steam had been very uncharitable to our game and we dont trust their review process.
I mean thats very steam moment(but at least the company makes better choices than other greddy companies... i still dont like the fact they add ai games in steam) , but yeah your plan is very reasonable
If Steam still won't let you get back on, try your luck with GOG. They have adult games with patches - hell, they often PROVIDE said patches for free!
Yeah Steam and Itch are the problems GOG is probably gonna be chill xD
It's incredibly weird that steam is doing this to your game specifically. I just recently saw two Itch games I follow get released within a week of requesting their steam releases, and Im always seeing several AI adult games getting released almost daily on the platform. The only time I ever see 18+ patches is with Japanese games due to other censorship reasons, not just Steam's. Sorry yall have to deal with this. Quick question tho, how will this affect downloading the android version?
Yeah I don't get it but the Steam process has been so bad lol This should not affect android at all since that isn't being released on steam anyway :D
I'd say try it but I know Steam sometimes has the tendency to block things anyway based off how characters look but this is probably your best shot of being on Steam
Yeah they seemed to have just decided a character was a minor despite no one looking like one and everyone being an adult lol so yeah if moving the spicy content out of game will make them chill, so be it
Love the game too. Cant wait for more updates
I really wish it had a mobile release, but nah, seeing how Steam is messing things up, I'd rather buy it and emulate it on my phone with one of those apps that let you emulate what you buy.
But... we do have a mobile release?
Yeah I mean while the 18+ scenes are great, and definitely one of the reasons I started playing, the story and writing are why I keep playing. I'm 100% on board with this.
Yessiiir i want my hazel on steam
Sounds reasonable, but man, sounds like an annoying headache for development. At least, as you say, having a non-18+ version of the game for wider availability does seem good for getting more people aware of it.
Thankfully we'd only need to worry about it every Steam release which we only have 4 planned :D
Minor ?! That idea never even crossed my mind XD
Yeah I have no fucking idea dude xD
Go for it
I think it's a logical move to go with an 18+ patch for the same reasons listed. The only way I would see this generating complaints is if the patch is difficult to find or difficult to apply. Selfishly, I certainly wouldn't complain if there was a wholesome romantic canon story line with monogamy and hand holding... Fading to black for NSFW scenes has been done before and would probably be the easiest route but I think it would elevate the game if there were charming SFW alternative scenes. Granted, I don't know the scope of how much that would affect the workload...
We wanna make the patch as easy as humanly possible :D
This seems like a pretty obvious solution to get around a bit of bullshit gatekeeping, i see 0 reason not to do it
Yeah I'd rather not but if Steam is gonna suck..
Why can't you just make your own website to monetize your game wouldn't that be better then to just but on other store pages?
Patreon ?
Given how often other games do a patch, its totally fine. Just don't let it become too far from its adult game roots, as that is an easy slide to follow
I still need to make a porn game for the patreon so I can eat so I cant abandon that part of it xD
Yea this seems fine, steam needs credit cards for adult purchases anyway and as someone who doesnt qualify for one thisl let me get the actual game on steam aswell :D
I say go for it, since you switched from Renpy I can tell you look to tell a more poignant story beyond the spicy scenes but one that flashes out the characters and their lives. An 18+ patch will just be the icing on an already delicious cake
I personally play on tablet, so I'm fine with using itch.io and the like. But if you want it to reach a larger audience that's fair
the issue is, itch is even worse when it comes to adult content
This is amazing. You replied to me a week ago or so under the game’s thread, and In the question I made I was just asking about the whole steam thing. I absolutely think you should go through with this plan, and again, I can’t wait to buy the game once it’s out😼
HAHA yeah this was going through my mind xD
This is, unfortunately, absolutely the best way to market this in my opinion
*sigh* yeeaaah
Steam may be weird, but they still make better choices then playstation
About everything EXCEPT Adult games and Gen AI lol