Valve Removes ‘Bokuten’ From Steam 8 Months After Launch Without Warning

The fight between visual novels and Steam continues as the online storefront for digital games mysteriously delists the all-ages version of the visual novel Bokuten from the platform. Without warning to the publisher, it seems the game is no longer available, which was where players interested in the story of the visual novel could purchase the all-ages version.

In a post from Twitter user @The_Doddler, he comments on the situation “The team spent months getting the game sanitized for Steam, cutting all nudity, rewriting/skipping and anything explicit, it passed their harsh review, and it just vanishes with no notice or explanation.”

In the past, getting Valve to respond to these delists has proven difficult, but the company has reversed the decisions before. MangaGamer’s release of The Expression: Amrilato was delisted, but then readded following conversations with the publisher and platform.

The surprising part of this removal is that Bokuten launched eight months ago. The all-ages version available on Steam has been heavily edited to remove the sexual imagery, which is actually a big part of the game’s main plot. Still, the publisher knows the benefit of releasing on Steam as it is the largest storefront for digital video games and the best way to get your game in front of new audiences.

We’ll follow this story, but there hasn’t been an official statement from MangaGamer or the publisher on this issue.

In case you missed it, check out our review.

Bokuten: Why I Became an Angel is available now on PC-via MangaGamer and Discord.