Steam Banned Horror Game Before Launch, Now Free

The Removal of Games from Major PC Stores

In July, several major PC game storefronts, including Steam and Itch.io, removed hundreds of games from their platforms. This action was reportedly due to pressure from payment processors such as Mastercard, PayPal, and Stripe. The affected games allegedly violated vague standards set by these companies, which primarily targeted content with any form of sexual material. A developer of a horror game is now challenging this decision while also supporting a meaningful cause.

The horror game Vile: Exhumed was scheduled to launch on Steam around the time of the removal of many titles. However, it ended up being banned from sale instead. According to the game's developer, Cara Cadaver, Steam removed the game for "sexual content with depictions of real people," which the game does not include. Vile: Exhumed is played entirely through a computer interface and tells a disturbing story about a stalker, presented through artifacts left on his computer. According to Cadaver, nothing in the game violates Steam’s stated policies.

"The game covers topics of assault, abuse, and entitlement, and uses a combination of FMV and practical effects to create images as horrifying as the themes," she wrote in a new statement on the game. "There are a lot of intense visuals in Vile: Exhumed, but there is no uncensored nudity, no depictions of sex acts, and no pornography whatsoever – which is one of the justifications bad actors are using right now to censor games. What this actually results in is taking power and storytelling away from women, other marginalized artists, and ultimately, from everyone."

In response to the game’s removal, Cadaver and publisher DreadXP have made Vile: Exhumed available for free outside of the Steam platform. A new website has been created where the game can be downloaded for free, with an option for players to leave a donation. Half of any profits received through donations will go to the developer, while the other half will be sent to Red Door Family Shelter, a domestic violence shelter in Toronto. The game is also covered by a Creative Commons license, allowing anyone to redistribute it for free as long as proper credit is given to the developer.

Initially, payment processors and a far-right activist group called Collective Shout, which claimed responsibility for pressuring them to ban games, suggested that only titles with extremely objectionable content were affected. While some banned games fit this description, it is clear that not all of them do.

Following the wave of bans, indie developers began warning about situations like Vile: Exhumed. When payment processors and storefronts can block content based on the vaguest of standards, there is no recourse when they decide something violates those policies. This leaves games that tackle difficult topics, such as sexual abuse, vulnerable to being targeted, as mere discussion of these issues is deemed unacceptable, regardless of the game’s message.

The irony is that while groups like Collective Shout claim their censorship campaigns aim to protect women, artists like Cadaver who seek to highlight women's safety end up harmed by these actions. Because the bans come directly from payment processors, giving a game away for free is one way to bypass them, allowing the game to continue reaching players. Recently, GOG gave away a pack of adult games that had been removed elsewhere for free for 48 hours. Itch.io has also begun restoring free adult games to search results, and various developers have either offered free versions of their games or moved to selling them directly from their own websites while they remain delisted elsewhere.

A campaign to keep pressure on payment processors by calling their support lines continues, but so far, none have backed down from the bans. Until that changes, moves like Cadaver’s donation-only distribution of Vile: Exhumed may be the only way to ensure transgressive games do not disappear.