Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Thursday March 07 2019, @04:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the think-of-your-mother,-daughter,-or-sister dept.

Valve says it won't publish game about raping women, after 'significant discussion'

Valve has at last responded to a mounting controversy concerning an indie game designed entirely around the violent sexual assault of women. The statement, posted to the Steam Blog earlier today, makes clear that Valve will in fact not distribute the visual novel, which was called Rape Day and scheduled for release in April through the company's Steam Direct distribution channel. The declaration marks a quizzical few days of silence from the video game developer and marketplace owner, which has taken varying, occasionally radical stances to moderation on Steam in the past few years.

In a policy change announced last year, Valve said it would let basically anything onto the platform so long as it was not illegal or very obviously trolling to illicit negative reactions from the general public. So far, the only category to meet that definition included visual novels and other games featuring the sexual exploitation of children, which Valve banned last December. In this case, Valve says Rape Day posed "unknown costs and risks," without clarifying which rule it broke.

Developer's website. Also at Ars Technica, Business Insider, and Kotaku.

Previously: "Active Shooter" Game on Steam Sparks Uproar
Valve Still Lives in the Waking Nightmare of Web 2.0
Valve Attempts to Define "Troll Games" in Order to Ban Them on Steam


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Thursday March 07 2019, @07:21PM (5 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday March 07 2019, @07:21PM (#811296) Journal

    It's never been the case that anything that is submitted will be posted to the front page. However, aristarchus has been given a place to post whatever he wants: the journal. It seems to get plenty of attention with about 40+ comments per journal.

    In this case, Valve/Steam has had to break with a policy they set in September 2018. Even people who wanted Rape Day censored are criticizing Steam for the explanation given (damned if they do, damned if they don't).

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Interesting=1, Informative=2, Total=3
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by nitehawk214 on Thursday March 07 2019, @07:47PM (4 children)

    by nitehawk214 (1304) on Thursday March 07 2019, @07:47PM (#811310)

    And the developers are free to publish Rape Day on their own website. Valve isn't obligated to share their game any more than you are obligated to post someone's story.

    --
    "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
    • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday March 07 2019, @07:51PM

      by nitehawk214 (1304) on Thursday March 07 2019, @07:51PM (#811314)

      Though, to be fair, I agree that Valve is a bunch of hypocrites when it comes to choosing what games they publish. They let outright scams on their network and promote them so they can make more money off of it.

      But I still think they get to choose that they do and do not publish. If their reason is "we don't want to put up with the hassle of the outrage", then that is their choice. Maybe it will help people realize that Valve is a Steaming pile of shit.

      --
      "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday March 07 2019, @07:55PM (1 child)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday March 07 2019, @07:55PM (#811317) Journal

      And the developers are free to publish Rape Day on their own website.

      Sure, they can do that. But if they try to collect money for it, they may be censored yet again, this time by payment processors. I guess the solution to that is to collect dollar bills sent in the mail or use volatile cryptocurrencies.

      Valve isn't obligated to share their game any more than you are obligated to post someone's story.

      That doesn't mean that the response to Valve kicking a game off the platform should be silence. People certainly weren't silent before the game was kicked off.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 07 2019, @10:05PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 07 2019, @10:05PM (#811351)

        You're right!!!!!

        *clap clap clap*

        Good call Valve, that kind of shit shouldn't be a part of your gaming ecosystem!

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Thursday March 07 2019, @08:01PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday March 07 2019, @08:01PM (#811319) Journal

      I'll add that they are free to publish on their own website... as long as their hosting service or registrar doesn't get pressured to remove the site (appears to be Squarespace and Tucows).

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]