Progress Report + Sneak Peaks + Some Rant
Hey everyone,
This post was actually meant to come out earlier, with sneak peeks and updates like usual—but recent news about Steam and Itch.io made me pause and rethink a few things regarding the game's release. I want to be open with you all and explain what's going on.
If you haven’t heard, both platforms are starting to clamp down on adult content due to pressure from payment processors. Here's a quick summary (copied from what I posted on Discord):
Itch.io has started shadow banning and de-indexing adult games. This means you can no longer find many adult titles through tag searches or browsing, only direct links will work. Sadly, that includes our game for now.
They also mentioned they’ll be removing games that conflict with payment processor guidelines, so unfortunately, access will be limited to direct links for the time being.
While we hope our game doesn’t violate any of those rules, it's hard to say what might get flagged next. Today it’s incest etc related content, tomorrow it could be all adult games. It feels like censorship with no clear boundary.
You can read more about it here: https://itch.io/updates/update-on-nsfw-content
I honestly don’t enjoy bringing negative updates or complaints to you, my dear players and supporters, but this situation has really affected me.
After Itch shadowbanned the game, traction dropped to zero. And when I checked our Steam wishlist numbers, I was shocked to see we’re only at 35 wishlists. Other games in similar genres have thousands and more. I’ve been pouring so much time and effort into this project, pushing to finish it as soon as possible, but at the moment, it feels like I’m working in vain. I fear that when I finally release the game, it might barely reach anyone.
Part of this is on me: I didn’t do much marketing, focusing instead on development. But without Itch’s visibility, I’ve realized I need to take matters into my own hands and start promoting the game more seriously. So I’ve decided to begin marketing on platforms like Reddit, TikTok, Bluesky, and maybe even X (Twitter).
I’m not cancelling the game or anything, far from it. But I’ve decided to wait until our Steam wishlist count reaches at least a few hundred before submitting the game to Steam. I want the game to have a fair chance, and as a developer, I want to feel that my work is being seen and validated. I hope you understand and respect this decision.
Thank you so much for your support so far. It means the world to me.
Anyway, here’s small cute dialogue new sneak peeks, featuring the catboy outfit that patrons voted for in the poll! Hope you like it!
Get Midnight Shifts with Femboy
Midnight Shifts with Femboy
Another night. Another shift. But this time, you're not alone.
Status | In development |
Author | icanfixthatgames |
Genre | Visual Novel |
Tags | Adult, Dating Sim, Eroge, Erotic, femboy, Gay, Hentai, NSFW, Porn, Yaoi |
Languages | Arabic, German, English, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Russian, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, Chinese (Simplified) |
Comments
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No te preocupes, entiendo muy bien que la situación esta horrible (pero con palabrota pero no me deja escribirlo), me creare una cuenta de steam y lo pondre en la lista para dar apoyo, aqui tienes a un comprador asegurado al 100% cuando salga, animo y espero puedas triunfar.
I'm so sorry for what you're going through. The recent restrictions on platforms like Itch.io and Steam are undoubtedly a huge blow to independent developers, especially when there are no clear rules or predictability.
Still, I want you to know that I deeply appreciate the work and dedication you've put into this project. I've worked in game development (though not in this field) and I know how complex and exhausting it can be.
I'm glad to hear you don't plan to cancel the game. Promoting it on other platforms is a brave step, and I'm sure sooner or later you'll find a larger community that appreciates your vision.
I wish you all the luck in this process and hope that the Steam wishlist grows quickly. You have my support and that of many others who believe in your project. Keep it up, your efforts are not in vain!
Thank you so much, you guys are the reason I’ve made it this far with the project 🥹
I hadn't even heard about that thing with Itch yet. It was all fine just a few days ago. I don't think your game has any too problematic content unless they ban all NSFW though. I hope they're just going through to filter illegal content and undo this limitation after. If the Itch and Steam downloads do get taken down, where could we get the game then?
Also, it doesn't seem like the people responsible will be causing more trouble anytime soon, so as long as everything's according to the payment processors' guidelines right now, it should be fine.
Thanks, hopefully it stays this way. The game is mostly vanilla and romantic, so I’m not too worried about extreme content but I am concerned about the LGBTQ themes. In the end, this backlash lately come from people who oppose both NSFW and queer content, which makes things feel extra uncertain : /