Exceptionally NSFW gacha RPG BrownDust2 has abandoned Steam as a viable storefront, citing issues with "the platform's policy requirements," which makers GAMFS N and Neowiz were apparently unable to resolve without compromising "the game's core direction."
In a new notice, the BrownDust2 team announced that its long-planned Steam version has been shelved. The game has been out on the Android and iPhone app stores for several years, where it's accrued impressively positive user reviews under T-for-Teen and 18+ age ratings, respectively.
"We have been preparing for a Steam launch for a long time, but during coordination with the platform's policy requirements, we encountered an issue that cannot be reasonably resolved with the current version of the game," the notice reads.
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"After extensive internal discussion, we have decided not to proceed with a Steam release."
This news turned heads amid the fallout of Valve banning arthouse horror game Horses from sale on Steam, but the nature of BrownDust2's specific policy conflicts is unclear, whereas Horses dev Santa Ragione laid out its issues in clear detail.
This game is so aggressively horny that it has to thoroughly cover up its own trailers to clear YouTube policies, but Steam is overflowing with actual porn, so I can't imagine that alone was the problem unless there was something incredibly specific that Valve took issue with. I've reached out to Neowiz for clarification regarding the game's policy conflict.
The BrownDust2 team says, "We considered multiple options to make the release possible, but in order to preserve the game’s core direction and overall quality, we came to the conclusion that making the necessary adjustments at this time would not be appropriate."
This verbiage suggests the problem had something to do with the direction and content of the game, and if nothing else, the content of the game could not be more clear about where it is directing the player's eye. But yet again, I cast my eye to an incognito view of Steam's perilous new and trending feed and have to wonder how this game could be over the line.
With Steam out of the running, the devs say they're considering "alternative PC platforms that can provide a better environment for BrownDust2." In the meantime, in-game rewards planned to celebrate the Steam release will still be sent out after a December 16 update.
"This still does not compare to the kind of audience we would have on Steam": Horses lead says ban virality helped sales "but we're not out of the woods," and he fears "self-censorship" with future games.
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