A new Pokémon clone called Yarimono has launched on Steam and is in the top sellers. However, in Germany, not all content is available to us. And for good reason.
Pokémon games and creature collectors remain immensely popular. Games like Palworld have thousands of players.
On August 30, 2024, a new Pokémon clone called Yarimono was launched. It is currently in 3rd place among the top sellers on Steam and in 11th place among the strongest newcomers (via steamdb.info). However, some content is missing in Germany. And for good reason, as Steam has a say in this matter.
Game rated “6 years and older”, but without adult content
Why is content missing? If you look at the shop page for Yarimono, you will notice that one of the tags is “sexual content”. It becomes even more specific when you look at the first (English) Steam reviews. Some reviewers list all the adult content in the game, which is indeed explicit and could have come straight out of a dirty box. And the bear sex scene from Baldur’s Gate 3 seems harmless in comparison.
So behind the cute Pokémon clone, which is approved for ages 6 and older in Germany, is a hardcore Hentai game.
What does this have to do with Germany? In Germany and China, Steam strictly blocks games that offer sexual content. The pages are no longer accessible. If you try anyway, you receive an error message. The developers of such games therefore have three options:
- They can either leave the games as they are and forgo sales in Germany. This, however, also means a financial loss.
- Or they can offer a special version for the German market without the content for which the game would otherwise be blocked.
- The third option is to release the game in a cut version and offer a patch for players to restore content.
For these reasons, some developers have now offloaded such content into free DLCs or offer an update on their own Discord. The base version on Steam is neutral, and with the DLC, they then bring in the specific content. These DLCs are also not accessible in Germany, but the game can still be purchased. However, developers do not have to forego revenue.
Do we need this? Whether adult content is really necessary in a Pokémon clone is another question:
- Some players criticize that Steam is trying to patronize them.
- Others argue that this can better protect younger players.
- This argument is countered by others who claim that violent shooters like Call of Duty should also be blocked.
More strange games: A particularly strange game was played by Cortyn for MeinMMO. The MeinMMO demon Cortyn ventured into a game called “Succubus”. A disturbing journey and not for the faint of heart: Succubus is the most disturbing game I have ever played
