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Steam is now selling hardcore uncensored porn games. This has profound implications for eroge fans, developers, publishers, and distributors. Sanahtlig's Corner: Valve opens Steam to uncensored eroge and hentai games

To what extent do JVN and EVN fans on Steam overlap? How many VNs do they buy? Who spends more? Which fandom is more elitist? As an update to my last analysis post on VN sales on Steam, I trawled 100k Steam profiles to find out. Here are my results~ Data collection and definitions Using the Steam API, I checked over a million steam profiles and collected public game lists on just under 100k users. I then used Steam's "Visual Novel" tag to identify which of those games were VNs. As Steam tends to be more lax on its definition of what a VN is, I cross-referenced this with VNDB.org and only included those games that had a VNDB entry. VNs were then split into three categories: JVNs: non-free VNs created by a Japanese company. EVNs: non-free VNs created by a primarily English speaking developer. Free VNs: free VNs created by either a Japanese or English developer. Unlike the non-free categories, users are only counted as "owning" a free VN if they have logged some time playing it. Those of you who follow my twitter may notice a few of these graphs are different to what I teased earlier. When investigating the overlap between VNs, I consistently found one group of VNs that were an outlier in terms of their fanbase overlap with other VNs, their userbase size, and their average price. It was always the Chinese and Russian VNs. So in the interests of better analysing the English language VN fandom, I restricted the dataset to only those VNs developed originally in English or Japanese. Results Let’s start simple and just see how widespread we VN fans are on Steam: While VNs remain a niche, they seem to be widespread enough among the Steam userbase that most users should at least be familiar with what they are. EVNs are penetrating Steam better than JVNs, perhaps due to bundles and lower prices. But they’ve also been on Steam longer than JVNs, with Analogue: A Hate Story being released back in 2012. Overall, 37.9% of Steam users either own or have played a VN of some kind. But owning one VN doesn’t necessarily make you a fan, so let’s see how many VNs these users own. The dramatic drop for free VNs show how dependent it is on a few VNs that reach more mainstream attention. 26.5% of free VN users have only played Doki Doki Literature Club for example, and only 53.2% of free VN players have ever bought a VN. This suggests that free VNs might not be an effective strategy for promoting a later commercial release as so few of these users buy VNs. EVNs drop at a faster rate than JVNs, showing that EVNs’ wider userbase doesn’t necessarily mean they have more users who would identify as VN fans as they tend to only own a couple of VNs. However once we get past the casual crowd, we see EVN owners seem to be more prolific purchasers than JVN owners. EVN owners purchase more VNs on average (5+ EVN owners own 23.7 EVNs on average, whereas 5+ JVN owners own 17.1 JVNs each). This may be because there are 66% more commercial EVNs on Steam than commercial JVNs so there’s more to buy, and they cost far less (the average EVN is £7.31 vs £14.00 for JVNs). So let’s try comparing the average spent on VNs next. image These prices assume users paid full price so are overestimating the total spent, but the relative value between JVNs and EVNs should be fairly accurate. Here we can see the influence of those higher JVN prices. While EVN fans may buy more, they spend less. On average, EVN owners spend £60.87 while JVN owners spend £81.12. The richest 10% of spenders have a disproportionate influence on the industry, accounting for 60% of all EVN revenue and 53% of JVN revenue. This is broadly in line with the Steam average, where the top 10% of spenders account for 61% of all revenue. So far we’ve been treating JVN owners and EVN owners as distinct entities, as if they were two warring tribes. But are they actually the same users? Let’s investigate the overlap~ Given that 86% of free VNs currently on Steam are by English developers, I expected the free VN fanbase to overlap more with EVNs, but it’s actually JVN owners who play free VNs more frequently, as 62.1% of JVN owners play free VNs but only 52.9% of EVN owners do too. Perhaps it’s because there are more EVN owners who are only lightly into VNs so are less aware of other free VN releases. Equally surprising is how many JVN owners also own EVNs: 75.2%. Despite the reputation of JVNs being the elitist community, it’s EVNs owners who are less likely to try JVNs where only 52.4% of them own a JVN. "But what about bundles” I hear the comment sections cry. Perhaps some EVN/JVN owners just picked up one in a bundle and aren’t really fans of them? OK, let’s retry this overlap with only those users who have at least 5 EVNs/JVNs/Free VNs in their library. The biggest drop in size is the free VN category, who lose 88.5% of their users. Meanwhile, the overlap between EVN and JVN fans has only grown tighter; with 60.1% of those who own 5+ EVNs also owning at least 5 JVNs. So it doesn’t seem like bundles explain the strong overlap between JVN and EVN fans, but let’s try another test. If someone picked up a VN through a bundle that they aren’t interested in, they probably wouldn’t play it. So let’s try only counting VNs that have been played: There’s been a slight drop in how many JVN players also play EVNs, at 67.6%, but it’s still a significant overlap. So while bundles likely do inflate EVN numbers slightly, there’s no denying how linked the fandoms are. Overall, 59.3% of owned JVNs were played, while 56.2% of EVNs were. The lower EVN percentage is perhaps due to user’s owning more EVNs on average. Although both played stats were higher than the Steam average, where only 49.2% of owned games have any recorded playtime. So what explains the lingering lower JVN ownership among EVN fans? Are EVNs perhaps catering to a wider audience? One thing the EVN scene is known for it its profusion of otomes (VNs with a female protagonist pursuing male love interests), so let’s compare their overlap. Rather than being more insular, otome fans are even more willing to try VNs developed in another language, with 81.2% of EVN otome owners also owning a JVN, and 90.3% of JVN otome owners also owning EVNs. However the overlap between otomes fandoms is smaller than EVNs/JVNs overall (68.6% of JVN otome owners also own EVN otomes, and 37.9% of EVN otomes owners own a JVN otome). Something that especially stands out is just how many otome fans there are in the VN market. 33.1% of EVN owners and 42.1% of JVN owners own an otome. They make up a significant part of the fandom, but many online VN community hubs either ignore or are outright hostile to them. So it otome’s don’t explain the EVN/JVN gap, what does? To further investigate we’re going to need to delve into individual VN statistics and look through a lot of lists, so I’ll keep that for my next post in a week or two. Potential issues We’ve been basing these statistics on public user profiles, however only 7.4% of Steam users have their game list public. So it’s possible we’re undercounting the more casual userbase who are less likely to have configured their profile to be public. This has been an analysis of only Steam users, and while Steam is a major part of the game industry, it’s not the only source of VNs. JVN fans may prefer to stick with Mangagamer/Denpasoft etc, while EVN fans may prefer itch.io. So it’s possible the JVN/EVN fandom splits more than these figures would imply. Conclusion In my experience, the popular image of the VN fandom is of a male JVN elitist who hates EVNs and would never read an otome, but that really isn’t representative of the customer base. The majority of JVN fans also enjoy EVNs, the average JVN owner owns more EVNs (10.9) than JVNs (7.6). The same is true of EVN fans, who while preferring EVNS (8.5 owned on average) still frequently own JVNs (5.0 owned on average). So the canny VN developer would do well to advertise in both EVN and JVN fandom communities. --- I hope you enjoyed the analysis. Please let me know what you think and share any alternative theories you have on these stats. If you’re interested in more, check out my other posts on tumblr, watch for updates on my twitter, or give me a yell on Discord (Sunleaf_Willow ／(^ n ^=)＼#1616). Special thanks to /u/8cccc9, Part-time Storier, and Lunaterra for help with the analysis. I just do these analyses for fun, but if you want to support my work with a tip, I accept small donations at ko-fi.

I wrote up a full article in response to the latest stunning developments. Sanahtlig's Corner: Valve opens Steam to uncensored eroge and hentai games Steam is now selling hardcore uncensored porn games. This has profound implications for eroge fans, developers, publishers, and distributors.

I definitely prefer JVN over JPVN as it saves a letter and also I've been using it for ages so get on my communal lawn and all that fvck I'm sleepy kokoro hold me

I agree with the option being hidden God-knows-where, but if I remember well searches and clicking links to 18+ games give proper feedback ("we've hidden an n-number of games because of your search preferences"). There will be a significant transition period, but I'd expect A LOT of people having 18+ content turned on after its over. Plus, it seems that all-ages + patch might still be a viable option, circumventing the "adult-only" categorization, but letting you place the 18+ patch as DLC directly on the platform. Less porn-centric VNs could still benefit from the full potential of Steam exposure, while the adult content DLC would be free to download for everyone interested without the current kind of cryptic BS.

This is everything my 16 year old self ever fucking wanted, holy fuck. http://www.siliconera.com/2018/09/11/too-kyo-games-is-led-by-danganronpa-staff-and-zero-escape-series-creator/ Staff includes Kodaka, Masafumi Takada (Danganronpa's composer), Takumi Nakuzawa (who worked on Ever17 and directed Root Double), and Kotaro Uchikoshi (Ever17, Zero Escape). http://www.siliconera.com/2018/09/11/too-kyo-games-first-projects-are-an-anime-and-a-couple-games-including-a-death-game-for-kids/ First project's being written by Uchikoshi and Kodaka (holy fuck) and has a theme of Extreme vs. Despair. Concept art: Second project is an anime written by Kodaka and directed by Pierrot. Concept art: Third project is a “A death game of children, by children, for children." (credit for the phrase goes to Siliconera) Concept art: Fourth project is a "reasoning adventure" in a Too Kyo - Spike Chunsoft crossover. Concept art: Credit for all info, art and wording goes to Siliconera (the two linked articles).

Hey guys! I'm arient. I've been a silent reader for quite a LONG time, like since 2015? LMAO That's when I created this account. And now I've decided to start being active in the forums. The fact that I never posted anything is because I've been battling with anxiety for pretty much my whole life. I didn't know I had anxiety until recently, always thought I was just shy, but my "shyness" would extend to forums, social media, etc. It was that bad. Now that I'm treating it I feel much at easy to post things & I even talk too much now. Anyway, back to the main topic, I only read a couple of visual novels so far because I'm lazy. My favourites are The House in Fata Morgana & Rewrite, amongst a couple others. Nice to meet y'all!

I've got bad news for you.

That will make EVNs look like a bootleg brand. I strongly oppose this notion. ;p ...I usually use JPVN in this context, would that be better?

Thanks Poltroon, I was a little confused by all the reply notifications I was getting on something unrelated to the analysis post.

I mean, it's more of a description than a classification, so you know what you can expect from it, and in that sense it's useful. Ofc only the trashiest of the trashy VNs can be described by only one tag (the tag being "industrial dogshit" ), so it's intended only as an initial overview approximation.

Finally, our campaign is live! We cannot put into words how excited we are!! To thank everyone who has played our game and sent us their thoughts, feelings, and feedback on it, we would like to announce: That’s right! It’s a raffle to win artworks from our main artist!!! More information can be found here!

Gameplayge.

That's why I don't use most of these terms.

I had an issue starting it recently. The fix was to switch to JP calendar mode as well. The option for that is in the regional settings in Control Panel (I assume it's the same on Win 10 too). Just remember to restart the system.

Eeeeh, I would still say that Moege/Plotge/Nukige, or even nakige can still be useful categories (I was always the least convinces about charage meaning something). With moege being lighthearted, SoL-oriented romance VNs with multiple routes, plotge being more story-driven games where romance is not the main focus or follows a less usual formula, while nukige are porn games with little to no story and abundance of hentai scenes. They'll never be clear in their meaning, but they can be useful - after all, most genre distinctions have this problem, containing many titles that fit the popular definitions perfectly and possibly just as many strange and contradictory ones that you can't easily classify. You can have some fun and try following discussions on what kind of movie "Alien" is. Horror? Thriller? Sci-fi? All three? Which part is the most important one? That is, you might not be able to tell exactly what a moege is, but if someone tells you a VN is a "typical moege" or a "borderline nukige", I think you'll have a good idea what they are about.

Cartagra is mostly horror, Multiple route Mystery. Play anything by innocent gray as mentioned above (Kara no Shoujo 1 and 2) You could try Ever17 which is also a multiple route mystery though it lacks the horror elements found in Innocent gray. Spike Chunsoft games like 999 (horror, multiple route mystery) and Danganronpa as well as they have themes that are similar though the feel itself is different.

How about Kara no Shoujo (+sequel)? It's made by the same studio and takes place in the same universe.

Transferred a lot of posts away from this thread. Please remain on topic. Posts about Adult Content being allowed on Steam, when unrelated to the topic at hand, are to go here. Sorry for the mess!

I don't want to say too much about the story, but it's a topical question. Those are their physical ages at death. Their mental ages are older because they have been inside Chiyako for years.

Dunno, perhaps I've grown cynical as I age - but I can see this backfiring in a rather painful and impactful fashion. I don't think any of us really needed or wanted 18+ on Steam. Though, on one hand - it would be a large boost in sales for publishers, having that extra coverage on such a well known platform (not to mention it might help bypass the bullshit MG etc have tradionally gone through with payment processors). But, this might be abit too much exposure - and no amount of age-gating on Steam will satisfy those with torches and pitchforks. All they'll need to do is exaggerate abit here - outright lie there, and the hyperbole will spur an ignorant mass media to jump in on the witch hunts~

Overall, yeah. Basically, I wanted to say, in an extreme situation that somebody decides to put Euphoria-like VN on Steam and it causes some mass freakout, the result could be pretty unpredictable, but, I guess, the possibility of that is very low. I'm also a bit concerned with a certain other detail. Technically, most 18+ VNs are set in high-schools, so the characters are supposed to be underage, even if they look like adults or it's explicitly said otherwise, so technically the whole VN industry lies in a somewhat legally gray area, especially in more conservative countries. Actually, in my country hentai is illegal for exactly the same reason, and quite a lot of sites that give access to it are IP-blocked. VNs probably exist because the industry is so small that nobody even knows about them, so the more exposure they get, the bigger is the possibility that they are going to be noticed by those who shouldn't notice them. So, in the end, I'm mostly just worried that I'm personally going to lose access to getting VNs legally rather that that it's going to bring some major problems. Or maybe I'm just paranoid.

Welcome! Yeah, don't worry. You are not the first and not the last person here who has this problem. I personally myself has never been comfortable posting things on forums, though Fuwa became a nice exception for some reason.

Welcome to Fuwanovel! I hope you'll enjoy the more active side of being on our humble forums.

Welcome welcome~ don't worry, we don't bite. Generally. Well, there was actually a case of a guy who ended up losing an arm but... Jokes aside, I hope you enjoy your stay!

happy belated birthday!!!

Welcome to Fuwa~

How, oh how am I not surprised at all? People aren't interested in great, thought-provoking stories. All they care about are animay boobs. I actually doubt whether they are actually read at all. VNs on Steam are an entirely different beast, with both western and english-language versions of new games tailored specially towards your average Steam user, choke full of memes & silliness to warrant decent streaming potential... and gods forbid them for containing any sort of politically incorrect content. People are so surprised publishers nowadays rarely release large titles without crowdfunding help. VNs were niche, are a niche and will forever remain a niche. You actually need a bit more than just a decently written story to garner any sort of success. At this point, from a western developer's perspective, it's better to remain small and balance between funding, quality and creativity.

It's even more depressing when you compare it to DDLC's numbers.