Additionally, Steam-maker pledges “measures to avoid circumstances like these in the future.”
Customers were regrettably notified last week by publisher Spike Chunsoft that the first official English release of Chaos;Head Noah will not be happening on Steam as scheduled due to Valve-mandated game adjustments. Now, the business reports that the visual novel will be released on Steam later today as a result of Valve’s content review staff changing its mind.
The game’s publisher claimed in a statement that it has been informed that Steam’s content review committee has “re-examined” it and will now permit the game to launch on Steam “as is.” That represents a significant change from last week, when Spike Chunsoft said that the game’s material needed to be changed in order to comply with Steam’s guidelines, which “would not allow the game to be released to [the publisher’s] standards.” Additionally, it aligns Valve more closely with Nintendo, which had previously let the ESRB M-rated game to debut on the Switch without obvious problems.
According to a statement from Spike Chunsoft, “We believe this decision is the consequence of the unshakable support from fans of the Science Adventure Series as well as all of the players who are eagerly expecting the release of this title.” “We heard what you had to say. We really value your dedication. We anticipate your continuing support of the Science Adventure Series and Spike Chunsoft.”
PQube Games Head of Localization Andrew Hodgson attributed the swift reversal to “[Valve] sensing the heat rising and doubling back before it became terrible optics across additional websites.”
A new, more tolerant valve?
Intriguingly, Spike Chunsoft also asserted that Valve’s laxer attitude toward some risqué games would not just apply to Chaos;Head Noah. According to a statement given by Valve to Spike Chunsoft, “We’ve also looked at the process that led to the earlier decision about Chaos;Head Noah and made some improvements to avoid situations like this in the future” (as reported by the publisher).
Since Valve introduced its “let everything onto Steam” policy, with the exception of “items that we decide are unlawful or straight-up trolling,” more than four years have passed. But since then, many in the visual novel community have observed an erratic pattern in which Valve bans many (but not all) anime-inspired games with characters wearing school uniforms. Hodgson claims that is still the case for “games that aren’t even somewhat provocative,” which includes Chaos;Head Noah.
In spite of repeated requests for comment from Ars, Valve has not publicly stated its position on the kinds of content that are and are not permitted in games of this nature. But according to Hodgson, this kind of promised reform is “essentially an acknowledgment of wrongdoing inside the process itself,” as he told Ars.
Hodgson, though, claimed he’s not sure “whether or not it’s just a general statement to get people off their backs rather than something that actually signifies anything” at the time. The test, according to him, will be if Valve approves the sale of “another visual novel with comparable characteristics to those that have previously been prohibited” for sale on Steam. In addition, Hodgson noted that developers who had been turned down in the past might decide to try their luck once more.
