A visual novel developer received a notice from Valve after several of her games were removed from Steam in Russia. The message emphasizes the developer's responsibility to ensure compliance with local laws.
Ebi-hime, creator of yuri visual novels including Her Love, Like Poison and Rituals in the Dark, shared a message from Valve on X on May 26, 2026. The notice followed a decision by Roskomnadzor to block the titles from the Russian Steam store for violating distribution rules.
Steam has rejected the upcoming Japanese horror visual novel This Game Is Not Real from its platform. Developer Viv announced the change after the game failed to meet Valve's distribution criteria. The title had accumulated 24,000 wishlists since its store page launched in August 2025.
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Japanese indie developer Daikichi has been blocked by Steam from releasing a demo for Wired Tokyo 2007 because it allegedly infringes on third-party intellectual property. The assets in question are from board games that Daikichi himself created. The developer resubmitted the demo with a self-granted permission document after failed attempts to prove ownership.
Yoran Heling, known as Yorhel and founder of the Visual Novel Database (VNDB.org), died on March 17. Site moderators announced his passing and are planning ways to preserve the resource. VNDB has been a key archive for the visual novel genre since 2007.
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Developers of Blue Prince have launched a Steam bundle called Hidden Depths, urging players to experience its games without spoilers. The bundle features five acclaimed indie titles with heavily redacted descriptions on its store page. They shared the promotion on Bluesky, emphasizing blind play for the best experience.