Nighthawks Developers Overcome Steam’s ‘Adult Only’ Rating Ahead of Launch
- Nighthawks successfully appealed Steam’s ‘Adults Only’ rating just before its launch on 22 September.
- The developers clarified that while the game contains mature themes, it is not pornographic.
- The controversy reportedly led to a doubling of wishlists for the game.
The indie RPG Nighthawks has managed to lift its ‘Adult Only’ rating on Steam, a label that could have significantly limited its visibility and access to players. The game was inadvertently assigned this rating just days before its scheduled release on the platform.
The ‘Adult Only’ tag would have effectively barred Nighthawks from appearing in Steam searches and restricted its accessibility in various countries. Fortunately, the developers resolved the issue in time for the game’s release on 22 September. The situation was first highlighted by Rock Paper Shotgun.
In a statement posted to Steam, the developers explained, “Last weekend, Nighthawks was mistakenly classified as ‘Adults Only’ by Valve. This put Nighthawks into a category usually reserved for porn games and rendered it almost invisible on the Steam storefront.” They emphasized that while their game features mature themes, “Nighthawks is not porn. Sexy? Sure. Deals with mature themes? Definitely. Porn? Most definitely not.”
The developers also noted that Valve was “very helpful in expediting the review on our appeal so we could get the AO rating dropped,” although they remained uncertain about why the classification was initially applied. The unexpected turmoil led to a substantial increase in the game’s wishlists.
Reflecting on the situation, the developers remarked, “It was stressful… but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a net positive. We got some press coverage out of it and wishlists essentially doubled overnight.” They acknowledged their luck in having a supportive fanbase that allowed them to address the issue quickly, stating that many developers facing similar circumstances might not have had the same advantage.
Issues with content ratings are not unique to Nighthawks. Other developers, including several queer game creators, have criticized Steam and Itch.io for increasingly stringent content guidelines. Notable figures like Robert Yang have attempted to challenge censorship, and the satirical game Future? No Thanks faced a similar predicament due to mild nudity in its content.
News Courtesy of Eurogamer
