[UPDATED 1/5/2022 5:40 PM EST]: Added info regarding additional information of Game Jolt reinstating pages temporarily .

[UPDATED 1/5/2022 6:14 PM EST]: Fixed issues from formatting problems with previous update.

Reports have started to surface of adult game developers receiving a sudden e-mail regarding the removal of their games from the hosting service, Game Jolt.

On January 3rd, many instanced began to come out of adult developers receiving a message from Game Jolt, stating that their games were being removed from the platform without any prior notice. In an effort to follow their new website guidelines, which were quietly changed after the 2022 new year began, they removed the store pages of numerous games. Anyone who purchased a game before its removal will have access to it for the remaining year, until December 31st, 2022.

In the e-mail received by creators such as @idreamfeel, @PPG_dev, and many others, Game Jolt says,

As you may have noticed, Game Jolt has grown quite a bit in the last few years, and we strive to be mindful of content that may not be suitable for users of all ages or may be offensive or culturally inappropriate in certain regions.

With the above fact in mind, and being aware of where responsibilities lie, we have made the decision to no longer allow content that depicts, solicits, promotes, normalizes, or glorifies sexual acts, sexual solicitation, and sexual violence.

According to Game Jolt, their changes have been made in light of the development of their site and the wider audience they've gained over the years. To accommodate users of all ages and cultures, they've begun removing content that has sexual themes. You can find their new stance on adult content in their guidelines, with an archive of their original site guidelines (dated as recently as January 2nd, 2022) available here. Despite this recent change, Game Jolt still has yet to change the objectionable material section mentioned on their terms of use page.

Game Jolt has since received many complaints on Twitter about their decision to remove sexual content. In a tweet made on January 3rd, they retweeted a post by Itch.io with a short statement on the situation, suggesting that developers who wish to sell eroge should instead choose either Steam or Itch.io to release and promote their products on. Game Jolt also claimed that they're a social media app intended for socializing, with their audience consisting of 13-16 year old users. Allegedly, these users asked them to “clean up” the site, resulting in the policies being changed.

Consider following your favorite game developers and supporting them on alternative platforms, such as the aforementioned Itch.io and Steam.

[UPDATE]:

We have received information from that other developer received an email from Game Jolt concerning the removal of adult games. We have received permission from aphrodisia, a developer associated with CriticalBliss, to post the message received via email.

In the email, Game Jolt apologizes for how they handled the process and have temporarily reinstated the game pages of aphrodisia and other eroge developers for seven days, to allow for migration to another platform. If developers feel their game has been miscategorized, they must contact the Game Jolt staff for an appeal.

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