Despite still being listed on Steam, Valve have now rejected SukeraSparo’s visual novel The Expression: Amrilato.
When Noisy Pixel reached out to SukeraSparo for comment, their PR Director John Pickett replied:
“Valve’s claim that this title ‘sexualizes minors’ is quite frankly absurd and discriminatory. The Expression: Amrilato is an educational title and it has no sexual content. Period.”
“While we sincerely hope this isn’t the case, the only conclusion we can draw from the feedback we’ve been provided with is that Valve now considers chaste romance between two women inherently ‘sexual’ and thus inappropriate for all audiences outside an adult context. Despite our many attempts to reach out to them for clarity on their “anything that isn’t illegal or trolling” policy––neither of which apply to this title––Valve has resoundingly refused to provide any, so all we can do is express our concern over what this could mean for freedom of expression and the LGBT gaming community.”
It’s unknown what will happen going forward.