Horror VN Axed by Steam Despite 24,000 Wishlists

24,000 wishlists. That's what Japanese indie developer Viv had built up for their psychological horror visual novel This Game Is Not Real since its Steam store page went live in August 2025. On May 13, developer Bibu announced that none of those wishlists would matter, because Valve had decided the game doesn't meet Steam's distribution criteria.

The game, a BL (boys' love) visual novel about two obsessive game creators, was supposed to launch on Steam this month. Instead, as reported by Automaton, Viv will now release it on DLsite and BOOTH, two Japanese digital storefronts. A new release date hasn't been set.

Bibu didn't specify exactly which criteria the game failed to meet, but in a follow-up post, they offered a half-joking, half-frustrated response: "If my artwork is 'too cute' for Steam, then maybe Steam and I just weren't meant to be. I use psycho-horror to express hatred, jealousy, love, dependency, and sexual desire. I'm not trying to make a mass-market adult game; I want to make something with literary and emotional value."

What likely triggered the rejection

The game's new DLsite listing includes a disclaimer section flagging serious themes: drug use, trypophobia, self-harm, murder, suicidal expression, and "sexual metaphors without agreement." That last one is almost certainly the sticking point. Valve has been tightening its grip on games depicting sexual violence or assault. In 2025, the platform rejected the game No Mercy over similar concerns, and a broader wave of adult content purges hit existing store pages throughout last year. Payment processors have also been squeezing platforms on this front; Kickstarter recently updated its own content guidelines under apparent pressure from Stripe.

I get why Valve draws lines. Nobody wants Steam flooded with exploitative content dressed up as edgy art. But when a game has 24,000 people actively waiting for it, a one-line rejection citing vague "platform criteria" isn't good enough. Valve owes developers, especially solo and small-team indie creators, a clear explanation of what specifically disqualified their game and whether there's a path to compliance. "You don't meet our criteria" with no elaboration is the content moderation equivalent of those patch notes that just say "stability improvements." It tells you nothing and leaves the developer guessing.

The situation also highlights a recurring tension in how Valve moderates Steam. The platform still hosts thousands of games with graphic violence, nudity, and extreme horror. The line between what's acceptable and what isn't remains opaque, and developers only find out where it sits when their game gets rejected or pulled. For a small Japanese indie team that spent months building a community on the platform, losing access to all 24,000 of those wishlists with no recourse is a serious blow. Those wishlists don't transfer to DLsite. That audience has to be rebuilt from scratch on a storefront with far less international visibility.

Viv has not announced a new release date for This Game Is Not Real on its alternative platforms.