Dev won against Steam. „We stood our ground and didn't bend the knee, going forward, we will keep fighting censorship”

At least one developer managed to beat Steam's censorship by reaching out to Valve after a company employee deemed an image of a woman's back as an inappropriate "cover."

The issue of removing "inappropriate" content from digital distribution continues to stir emotions, even though it's been nearly two months since the last major report. However, this only means that the matter is not being talked about loudly at the moment. Unless someone brings it up when talking about their own run-in with "censorship" on Valve's platform.

Controversy over a woman's back and a swimsuit

Aftermath: Red Pine Lake is an upcoming third-person survival horror game that’s gonna have both multiplayer and single-player modes. In the game, players will find themselves at the titular fictional lake, and the entire experience is designed to evoke 80s slasher films.

The game doesn't yet have a page on Steam. This is not because the creators from Sakura Studios (The Ghost of Nichisima) were dragging their feet on submitting their application to Valve. The problem turned out to be the main graphic for Aftermath: Red Pine Lake, which a moderator deemed too mature (or rather NSFW) for the so-called "capsule art." Reason? A woman's back and a swimsuit.

Does it sound like a joke? It probably seemed that way to the team when they got their first reply from a Steam employee, who thought the promo art for their game was a bit too suggestive. The developer didn't hesitate to mock the reasoning provided by Valve's technical support, pointing out that it was absurd because "minors" would see more at a swimming pool than in that graphic.

Moreover, the dev requested an evaluation from another Valve "agent," and the company fulfilled this request. This agent apparently turned out to be very understanding, as Sakura Studios announced a "small victory" over censorship, and Aftermath: Red Pine Lake will get its page on Steam. Of course, it's partly because of all the buzz the issue got – just take a look at how many more likes the developer's posts on X got before and after the whole thing blew up.

In theory, the devs could simply change the main graphic to another one. However, in their opinion, this would just lead to way too much censorship. That's why the team is so determined – though you could also be a bit cynical and say that the whole situation gave the studio online attention they wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Nonetheless, calling the A:RPL artwork too "mature" is a bit much, especially when you compare it to other covers that are way more suggestive or even explicit.

On a side note, players will soon be able to support Aftermath: Red Pine Lake on Kickstarter, just like the studio's previous project.

Aftermath Z: Red Pine Lake

2027

Want It!

• Overview

• Steam
• censorship
• scandals and controversies
• survival horror
• Valve