Publishers of the point-and-click comedy Earth Must Die reported that the game's Steam launch briefly looked "unclear" after platform operators reviewed footage that showed an "alien orgy depicted as a gyrating lump on the floor." Valve subsequently reviewed the material and permitted the game to go live on the storefront.

The episode highlights ongoing uncertainty about what Valve will accept on Steam when content veers into mature or sexually themed territory. That debate has intensified over the past year amid high-profile cases and reporting that has examined the boundaries of Valve's policy and the role of payment processors.

Sponsored

Rock Paper Shotgun has documented these tensions in coverage that includes individual disputes such as Santa Ragione's Horses and wider analysis of payment and storefront guidelines. The Earth Must Die publishers framed the decision as emblematic of Steam's case-by-case approach: an initial absence of clarity followed by approval after a direct review of the contested footage.

Earth Must Die's run-in with Valve underlines the murky lines developers face when presenting sexual or provocative imagery. The incident adds to a catalogue of recent examples in which developers and publishers navigate inconsistent signals from digital storefronts and the businesses that support them.

Further detail and context can be found in reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun.