Steam Edition? Nope.

I've been working on the Steam version of Confusion for almost six months now. It's gone through several iterations involving changing my website because it featured pointers to other sites like itch.io, modifying the game to add Steam features, suggested adjustments to dialogue--only to have it permanently banned from Steam.

I was honest and upfront about the content that caused Confusion - SE to be banned, explaining context and providing enough backdoor tools for reviewers to review the questionable scenes in context. Nope. Banned permanently. I lost all of that time and effort, not to mention the fees I paid to Steam to be considered in the first place. To say I'm disappointed is a gross understatement.

Hello,

After review, we will not be able to ship your game Confusion - Steam Edition on Steam. While we strive to ship most titles submitted to us, we found that this title features themes, imagery or descriptions that we won’t distribute.

Regardless of a developer's intentions with their product, we will not distribute content that appears, in our judgment, to depict sexual conduct involving a minor.

While every product submitted is unique, if your product features this representation—even in a subtle way that could be defined as a "grey area"—it will be rejected by Steam.

For instance, setting your game in a high-school but declaring your characters are of legal age would fall into that category and be banned.

This app has been banned and cannot be reused. Re-submissions of this app, even with modifications, will not be accepted.

Steam Support

I don't know what I'm going to do yet. Releasing on Steam has been a core part of my income strategy since I started working on it almost five years ago. I may look for other distribution venues, but none of them have the reach of Steam.