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If I make a game that has an All-Ages version but an optional Adult-Patch/R-Patch how can I publish it?

A topic by TheLolingPain created Jan 24, 2025 Views: 397 Replies: 6

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Hello! I am developing a game and in the next few months I will finally release it.

The thing is that I have an Optional Adult-Patch for it, and I was wondering how to add the option to download it. I thought of these two options

1. Publish it twice, but the adult version will redirect to the All-Ages version for the main files.

2. Use external links for the patch.

Also, can a link for the Adult-Patch be placed on the normal version? Of course using disclaimers.

How would it work here? Or are there suggestions on how to do it?

Thanks, beforehand!

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redonihunter253 days ago(+1)

Depends. If you can simply turn the game from non-adult into adult, chances are it might already be aimed at adults. So why bother having two versions. You could provide the patch on the same project page and have that marked nsfw.

If your game aims at children, there might be something dubious about the concept, if you can turn it into an adult game with a patch. Also, you might want to release the family friendly version on a separate account. Kids would check out your profile and see the adult version. The account setting on adult content does not work for profiles. It only works for browse and search.

Also, are we talking adult adult or adult as in scary horror games. Like, do you change the game from bikini and hugs to no swimwear and some more hugs, or do you change implied violence to blood splatter? For the first, consider making it nsfw regardless. And for the second, check if you would even need the nsfw marking.

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TheLolingPain253 days ago (1 edit)

Ah I see, I thought it would filter profile results too.

As for the game, at least some moments that I have planned would most certainly be disturbing to some "with the option to toggle off" including gore, the main reason for the Adult-Patch would enable some "explicit" romance scenes, while also possible in the normal version with a fade to black, it would be more explicit in the Adult-Version. However I could set those settings by default in the All-Ages and put all the other content in the R-Patch.

Kinda of a bummer, there are still games or works that are R-18 but also have All-Ages versions I haven't seen those in itch.io though,

I don't want to make someone jump into unpleasant surprises though... I could do 2 accounts but that might make things more complex, or I could just put it all in the normal package, and slap a NSFW tag to it.

Also, the reason being to appeal to a wider audience, some don't like explicit content, some do or don't mind.

Repost: Forgot to reply.

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redonihunter253 days ago

Keep in mind, this is the opinion of a player, not a publisher/developer.

I suggest you start by making your mind up, who your target audience is.

Browse the tags your game will be about. Then add the "adult" tag and do the same. Is your game in it's "director's cut" at home in one of the two groups, then cater to that group as the primary target. People browsing for games here do have expectations depending how and where they found the game.

Another way of thinking about the topic would be, will your "all ages" version have enough fans for there to be a demand for rule34? A demand you would fulfill yourself. Or would your adult game have enough potential to work as an "all ages" version.

there are still games or works that are R-18 but also have All-Ages versions I haven't seen those in itch.io though

You sure those are all ages versions? 12,13,15,17 are not all ages. Not even 6. An advantage for two versions would be to release a non-18+ version into a market that has restrictions about such games. But that version would probably restriced to be for 15/16/17+ and not be all ages.

I do kinda remember seeing that once in a while, but not often. Games on Itch that have two versions. But more often it would be an adult game that has the option to toggle off the adult bits to make it friendly for streaming the game. Or the demo version would be family friendly, and the paid version not so much. A non adult game where you could install the adult patch? Hmm. Multi-platform releases maybe. But the other version would not be on Itch, but rather on Steam and you would get the adult version/patch here. Something like that I might have seen.

Pragmatically, the adult rating on Itch is kinda unspecific. In the player's settings it is called Show content marked as adult in search & browse. In the metadata it is called Has sensitive content — This project is not suited for minors or the workplace. If you try to leave bits out of the game so you can barely claim it is not mandatory an adult game and not mark it as nsfw, but do heavily promote the nsfw version on the same profile, your game might get delisted or marked as nsfw by staff anyways. "Sensitive content" can mean a lot and need not even be explicit.

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TheLolingPain253 days ago

Gotcha, I guess I will do it NSFW just to be on the safe side, as for 'All-Ages', the rating I was aiming for was +16 or +17. I now understand better what do you mean by that.

Besides it's a Koikatsu Render Visual Novel 'often known for adult content', I cannot publish it on Steam so far I know I could have released a 'DLC' containing the Patch, which would have been nice...

Anyways, thanks for your time and answers, I don't think I'll miss out much by marking it as sensitive, the dilema is losing players that don't want explicit content but, I suppose I can't cater to all. Still, sensitive content Visual Novels are still quite popular.

Have a great one!

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redonihunter253 days ago (2 edits)

There are koikatsu non adult games? ;-)

I mean, sure, there is a target audience for vn that is quite large in the non adult sector. Larger than for adult by game count. But I did not get the impression that koikatsu is common among those vn.

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TheLolingPain252 days ago

I doubt it 🤔, as for targeting that audience... Maybe at a later date I could, by "remaking" the game into another engine with custom assets, and seeing my options.

So far I just saw, AVNs in itch.io do pretty well and are nearly on par with normal games here. Of course it varies per store, the same numbers differ in Steam for example.

With that I made up my mind, I'll go the NSFW route, and some people do come for 'that' and stay for the plot or characters (myself included)! But I will keep the 'Sensitive content' as an in-game option.

Thanks a lot for your help!

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