GOG is giving away a selection of adult games to protest censorship
GOG is currently offering 13 games for free for the next 48 hours, some with well-known scandals and others that seem to fall into the "NSFW visual novel" bucket that makes up the majority of sexually-explicit games on digital storefronts. The titles available to download are:
Leap of Love
Being a DIK — Season 1
Leap of Faith
POSTAL 2
House Party
HuniePop
Lust Theory
Agony + Agony Unrated
Treasure of Nadia
Summer's Gone — Season 1
Fetish Locator Week One
Helping the Hotties
Sapphire Safari
POSTAL 2, a graphically violent open-world game, is a notable inclusion because it was banned in New Zealand in 2004 and delisted from the German version of Steam in 2016. HuniePop, one of several "adult-only" games Twitch streamers are explicitly forbidden to stream, makes sense on the list, too. GOG has made a concerted effort to preserve games of all types, including maintaining them so that they run on current hardware. The point of making these games available to download is as much about preservation as it is about highlighting how apparently easy it is to pressure digital storefronts to remove content, though.
Valve's decision to delist titles from Steam was chalked up to a new rule that requires games to abide by the standards set by the payment processors that work with Steam. Itch offered a similar explanation for the delistings on its storefront, pointing to pressure payment processors were receiving from a nonprofit called Collective Shout. In the process, indie games like VILE: Exhumedhave been delisted, primarily for depicting things that might make a certain group of people uncomfortable.
Itch, for its part, seems to be trying to bring back as many games to its storefront as it can. The platform is restoring free NSFW games, and says it's still in talks with its payment partners about restoring paid games to its storefront.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Five new games you may have missed last week, including a dogs-only party, a VOIP wizard 'em up, and open world cycling
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Best of the best 2025 games: Upcoming releasesBest PC games: All-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest MMOs: Massive worldsBest RPGs: Grand adventures On an average day about a dozen new games are released on Steam. And while we think that's a good thing, it can be understandably hard to keep up with. Potentially exciting gems are sure to be lost in the deluge of new things to play unless you sort through every single game that is released on Steam. So that's exactly what we've done. If nothing catches your fancy this week, we've gathered the best PC games you can play right now and a running list of the 2025 games that are launching this year. Wheel World Steam page Release: July 24Developer: Messhof From the creators of Nidhogg comes something completely different: a stylish open world cycling game. Racing is the dominant concern in Wheel World, but there's a lot of exploration involved too, not only to find new "elite cycling teams and quirky rivals" but also to hunt down new parts to upgrade your two-wheeler. Somehow all this racing and bike-upgrading will help protagonist Kat save the world, too. It's a gorgeous looking game, and better still, the soundtrack comes courtesy of Italians Do It Better, the label behind this all time classic. Discopup Steam pageRelease: July 26Developer: Parry Mechanics I don't know what you look for in videogames, but one thing I love about the medium is its potential to tell stories heretofore untold. Which is why I was immediately drawn to this game about a seal trying to gain access to a dogs-only disco. What would a seal do under these circumstances? Mope off into the streets? Look for a seals-only disco? According to the logic advanced by Discopup, the seal would roam the world in search of the perfect disguise, all the better to gain access to the disco, whether those dastardly dogs want you in there or not. Mage Arena Steam page Release: July 25Developers: jrsjamsHere's an unimpressive-looking game about sorcerers and warlocks doing battle. Don't let your eyes deceive you, though: a lot of people are playing it, and many are saying it's great. It's a first-person PvP affair, but the twist is that you need to use your voice to cast the spells. As you can imagine, this becomes chaotic very fast. As one Steam reviewer describes it: "Lots of people screaming fireball at each other in increasing desperation". Sign me up. s.p.l.i.t Steam pageRelease: July 25Developer: Mike Klubnika From the creator of the brilliantly disturbing Buckshot Roulette comes a terminal hacking game about gaining "root access into an unethical superstructure". While you'll spend a lot of time typing commands into a DOS-like OS, s.p.l.i.t. also has you leaving your desk and navigating a grimy looking workshop that could very well be situated in Silent Hill. This is a short and sweet narrative driven affair from a solo dev who knows how to make richly atmospheric horror. and Roger Steam page Release: July 24Developer: TearyHand Studio and Roger is a short visual novel with a bizarre, vaguely discomforting premise. One morning a young girl wakes up and finds that her father has been replaced by a complete stranger. She promptly leaves the house. I've got no idea what happens next, but if the storytelling in the game is anywhere near as good as it is in the Steam description (seriously, go have a look), this one will definitely be worth the hour it takes to complete.
Vogue
12 hours ago
- Vogue
The Trend Cycle's Gone Dotty: Can My Personal Style Survive Polka Dot Fatigue?
It happened to me: Something I love was eaten up by the trend cycle, and spat out onto the algorithm. We've gone dotty for polka dots—on every cool girl GRWM, fast fashion ad on the subway, and sponsored ad on my FYP. Polka dots crept back in as an essential with Miu Miu's fall 2023 show, where Muccia Prada sent frizzy-haired, disheveled librarian Mia Goth down the runway in a sheer polka dot skirt, tights tucked into her gray knit cardigan. For the spring summer 2025 shows, polka dots arrived via Jacquemus and Acne Studios, and emerged once again for fall winter 2025 with Altuzarra, Fendi, and Brandon Maxwell. Looking forward to resort 2026, the polka dot parade shows no sign of letting up. Unlike its contemporary girly spirit, the print has a kind of freaky backstory. In Medieval times, dots were considered a bad omen for disease. The pattern first appeared more positively in the western world around the mid-19th century with the industrial revolution—less plagues going on, more precise pattern-making—in tandem with the polka dance craze that gave it a name. The 'dotted swiss,' (a term still used for a sheer, dotty fabric today) came first, as well as the French variation 'quinconce' and in German, as 'thalertupfen.' Women's lifestyle magazine Godey's Lady's Book was the first to use the term polka dot in its 1857 issue: 'Scarf of muslin, for light summer wear, surrounded by a scalloped edge, embroidered in rows of round polka dots.' Sandy Liang resort 2026. Photo: Courtesy of Sandy Liang Jacquemus fall 2025. Photo: Filippo Fior / Through the '30s into the '50s, polka dots reached a new print icon status: through flouncy skirts and scarves, Disney's redesign of Minnie Mouse in her now signature polka dot dress and matching bow, Marilyn Monroe in dotted swimwear and Audrey Hepburn's vacation style, and Christian Dior's post-war 'New Look' silhouettes, where the print reflected both innocence and sartorial rebellion. Fast forward to John Galliano's tenure at Maison Margiela, where he proposed displaced, cut out polka dots on fluid fabrics. It has been a lifelong signature print for Comme des Garçons under Rei Kawakubo, also inspired by the surrealist dots of formidable, fashion favorite artist Yayoi Kusama. Today, the dot is a calling card for brands playing with femininity and youth, like Sandy Liang. I have long loved a polka dot, from dotty sets my mom made for me as a toddler to a short-lived MySpace scene queen era with '40s-esque polka dot tea dresses cinched with studded belts and neon accessories. Today, I love my Lucila Safdie polka dot headband, silk Hai skirt, Fruity Booty tanks in two colorways, vintage Moschino two-piece with fat metallic dots. And while I've been committedly dialled into the dot, I'm experiencing some trend fear and fatigue. Could polka dots at fever pitch put me off such a key part of my personal style? The tyrannical trend cycle has pummelled our personal tastes, and it can be difficult in the era of doom-scrolling (and doom-shopping) to know what's you, and what's contoured by the content machine.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mastercard denies pressuring game platforms, Valve tells a different story
The outcry after a recent marketplace crackdown on games with adult content, seemingly due to pressure from payment processors, prompted Mastercard to release a brief statement Friday pushing back against recent headlines. 'Mastercard has not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations,' the company said, adding, 'At the same time, we require merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content.' This follows an open letter by the advocacy group Collective Shout addressed to executives at Paypal, Mastercard, Visa, and other companies, criticizing them for allowing the sale of 'No Mercy' and other games that depict rape, incest, and child sexual abuse. In the following weeks, Steam announced that it would ban games that violate the rules of its 'payment processors and related card networks and banks.' Then said it was removing games with adult content from its browse and search pages while conducting a broader audit. While Mastercard's statement seems to undermine the narrative that payment and card companies were the ones pressuring the game marketplaces, Steam owner Valve responded with a statement of its own, provided to PC Gamer and other gaming sites. According to Valve, 'Mastercard did not communicate with Valve directly, despite our request to do so. Mastercard communicated with payment processors and their acquiring banks. Payment processors communicated this with Valve, and we replied by outlining Steam's policy since 2018 of attempting to distribute games that are legal for distribution.' Valve said its response was 'rejected' by the payment processors, who noted the 'risk to the Mastercard brand' and pointed to a Mastercard rule against 'illegal or brand-damaging transactions.' Meanwhile, said that it's now re-indexing free games with adult content while negotiating with payment processors including Stripe, which for its part said it's 'unable to support sexually explicit content' due to 'banking partners.' Sign in to access your portfolio
