...and their distribution on "more mainstream" platforms.

I stumbled upon this article here and I asked myself what you guys are thinking about games with sexual content and if they have a place on mainstream distribution platforms.

Some analogies made there were pretty interesting, what with "50 Shades of Grey" not being much less graphical, but nobody even batting an eye at it being a best-seller (or at least not at it being able to be sold everywhere :D).

Now, as far as I know, this game isn't pure porn. So I'm not saying every hentai-type game should get on Steam, or whatever, but just wondering if games who're more focused on sexual themes (as opposed to violence) deserve to be held away from Steam.

Personally, I don't like sex-focused games (with the exception of Larry, if he fits in there). However, this is only an issue with video games. Movies which are available to anybody (even kids as long as an adult is with them at time of purchase) these days can be practically AAA-produced porn, and we all know about the rise of soft-porn books in recent times. The fact that video games get the shaft (no pun intended (; ) really confuses me. So the public can go watch sex anytime they want at the local theater, movie store, or even on Netflix at home? So the public can purchase books which contain content that rivals even some H-games from any bookseller? Yet the public can't go into their favorite digital store and purchase a game they're interested in simply because the distributor believes the game to contain content not suitable to the public? I'm not saying it's wrong or right, but it just doesn't make sense for something to be ok in one medium but not in others.

It is fine for such games to exist, and for people to have easy access. People should be able to enjoy themselves, be it through Friendship is Magic, Manhunt, or Debbie Does Dallas. The only rule that I have against entertainment of any kind is such: "You can enjoy yourself, but don't intentionally harm other people."

In any creative form, such content needs to exist to some degree. Without it, the medium becomes a stale turd.

The same people making the descision to say "No!" to such content (in business) and no doubt many of the people with some kind of "porn outrage" at such things are often the same ones with the most weird, fucked up and downright wrong sexual habits and internet search history.

Jimmy Saville being one such example.

I'm glad theres a developer out there trying to push the boundaries a little too. Not my kinda thing, but it will be for some, and creatively, someone needs to explore it.

Cheers for the link Reever!

Really dumb question. Why cant they just put those types of games into an Adults Only category?. Or is Steam just trying to play the high moral ground?

Good question actually - it should be easy for them to prevent sales from wallet funds etc and add a verification check into the price for payment via credit card.
Hell, my mate managed to add the latter for his merchandising, and he doesn't even do web design etc.

There should be more sex focused games. There aren't enough sex focused games out there. I'm not talking about porn but more games similar to Larry.

Did not gog also turn down "Seduce me"? or is it something I remember wrongly.

And yes, it is completely viable to have and "adult" category for games, as fireflower seems to manage - http://fireflowergames.com/product-category/games/erotic/

If people want it, I see not reason why it can not be sold. I see no reason why it is ok to sell guts and gore games, but not sexy ones.

Always seemed strange to me. AO section is obvious answer, but maybe stores are trying to appear always 'family' friendly. Seems silly to limit themselves out of a segment of the market if there is demand for it...

Isn't it because it's harder to check if person is adult on the internet, than in real life? :)

I remember that some1 in the past couldn't buy some game on gog cuz he entered real birth date, ofc solution was to change it. So it's not that hard for kids to get access to it.

As i said above - credit card verification as a part of the price. Simple enough. Also seems to work for some movie sites / mobile phone companies well enough.

Whether you meant it or not that is a beauty pun. :D

Ofc, but then again, some adults that use paypal (for example) would moan that's not fair (and things like that).

Also, It's about risk and profit I guess. And no1 want bad review on the internet cuz "that page sells porn to kids"

I think the problem for distributors like GOG and Steam is really a fear of legal action at the hands of "concerned" (read: irresponsible) parents/governments.

I don't see any inherent problem with games that focus on a valid component to the human experience. If anything, I would imagine something like that would be a tad more "realistic".
I would hope that we would find ourselves more likely to enjoy a sexual encounter than to be forced to engage in a vicious gunfight between hundreds of assailants in a dockside warehouse.