Steam reverses porn game rating it mistakenly gave to an indie vampire RPG, and despite the stress it was a ’net positive’ overall as wishlists on Steam ‘basically doubled overnight’
Steam has rescinded an adults-only rating that was mistakenly applied to Nighthawks, an indie narrative vampire RPG developed by Wadjet Eye Games. The erroneous classification had prevented the game from appearing in standard searches on the platform and blocked its sale in certain regions.
The reversal marks the end of what Dave Gilbert, head of Wadjet Eye Games, described as a “roller coaster” on Bluesky. Despite acknowledging the significant stress caused by the mistake, Gilbert emphasized this wasn’t a deliberate marketing stunt, stating: “I’m not that dumb and I’m not that smart!”
The silver lining to the ordeal came in the form of unexpected visibility. Following the rating error and subsequent reversal, Nighthawks saw its Steam wishlists “basically double overnight,” providing substantial exposure for the indie title. Gilbert characterized the incident as ultimately a “net positive” for the game, suggesting the controversy and media attention surrounding the rating mixup inadvertently boosted interest in the project.
The incident highlights potential vulnerabilities in Steam’s content classification system, particularly how human error in rating reviews can significantly impact an indie game’s discoverability and regional availability on the world’s largest PC gaming platform.