Digital distribution giant Valve recently halted UK sales of the controversial adult-themed game No Mercy on its popular Steam platform, a significant hub for the gaming community. This action followed a complaint from UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, who described the game as “deeply worrying” and insisted on its removal due to its extreme content, as reported by news outlet LBC. The Steam page for No Mercy detailed that the game included “incest,” “blackmail,” and “unavoidable non-consensual sex,” and advertised that players could become “every woman’s worst nightmare” and “never take ‘no’ for an answer.” Following its removal from sale in the UK, Canada, and Australia, the developer, Zerat Games, announced it would pull No Mercy from Steam entirely, while still defending its content. “We don’t intend to fight the whole world, and specifically, we don’t want to cause any problems for Steam and Valve,” Zerat Games stated on the game’s now-inaccessible Steam page. Existing owners of the game reportedly retain access.
Valve’s Adult Game Policy and UK Legal Context
Valve’s approach to adult games on its Steam platform has been characterized by light curation since it began permitting such content in 2018. The company initially stated its policy was to remove only games with illegal content or those deemed “trolling.” The game No Mercy, with its described themes, potentially aligns with the UK’s definition of illegal content. A 2008 UK law specifically prohibits the possession of “extreme pornographic images,” defined to include “explicit and realistic” pornographic depictions of non-consensual sex. Reinforcing this, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper commented to LBC regarding No Mercy, stating, “That sort of vile material is already currently illegal.”
The UK Online Safety Act, Age Verification, and Free Speech Concerns
The No Mercy controversy has intensified scrutiny of Valve’s mechanisms for preventing minors from accessing adult material on Steam. This is particularly relevant given the UK’s Online Safety Act, enacted in 2023, which mandates “robust age checks“—such as ID or credit card verification—for accessing pornographic content. At present, Steam does not enforce age verification for account creation or for disabling its adult content filter. Furthermore, purchases on the platform can be made with physical gift cards, bypassing credit card checks. The Online Safety Act, and similar legislation aimed at requiring identification for online pornography access, has drawn criticism from free speech and privacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, reflecting broader concerns about efforts to regulate internet content across various regions, including the US.
Political Debate on Content Regulation and Public Outcry
Notably, the Online Safety Act initially featured provisions empowering the UK government to order the removal of content deemed “legal but harmful.” This controversial wording was ultimately removed due to significant free speech concerns. Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, a proponent of the “legal but harmful” clause, argued to LBC that games like No Mercy warrant banning to protect “children, vulnerable adults, and women.” Dorries elaborated, “It’s appalling and feeds into the insidious ‘Andrew Tate’ narrative which is taking hold amongst young men who spend too much time online. I hate banning things, but sadly, social media has taken us to the place whereby for the protection of children, vulnerable adults, and women, we have to: this needs to be removed online, immediately.” Even before Zerat Games withdrew No Mercy from Steam, public outcry was evident; a Change.org petition calling for Valve to halt global sales of the game amassed over 13,000 signatures. The petition contended, “By treating rape as entertainment, No Mercy puts all women and girls at risk.”
In its defense, Zerat Games, the developer of No Mercy, claimed the game suffered misrepresentation through incorrect graphics in online videos, even while acknowledging it depicted “disgusting” real-world behaviors. The creator contended that themes such as incest, blackmail, and “male domination” are common elements in fictional, roleplay scenarios and do not inherently cause social or psychological harm. While Valve has made some adjustments to its adult content rules on Steam since 2018—for example, prohibiting “nude or sexually explicit images of real people” and making rare interventions like refusing to list a game titled “Rape Day” in 2019—the company largely upholds a laissez-faire approach to storefront moderation. This stance means No Mercy is not unique; other titles in Steam’s adults-only section could also be considered “extreme” under UK law and viewed as harmful by segments of the public. Examples include games on Steam that advertise themes of “mind control, corruption, dominance, and submission,” as well as content involving “sexual violence” and “optional incest.” Valve has not issued a public comment on these broader content moderation questions.