After her game was banned from sale on Steam in a baffling decision with no appeal option, solo developer Cara Cadaver has made VILE: Exhumed available as shareware under a Creative Commons license. The project can be downloaded for free, but players can opt to donate in support of the solo developer’s work. Both Cara and publisher DreadXP will pay forward those donations, with 50 percent of the game’s profits being given to the Toronto-based charity Red Door Family Shelter. The group aids families, refugees and women who are escaping violence.
Both Steam and Itch.io have recently adopted sweeping and vague policies regarding their approach to projects with adult content due to pressure from payment processors. Itch.io has begun re-indexing some projects, but only free ones.
These changes have disproportionately impacted projects by underrepresented and queer creators, according to a statement from the International Game Developers Association that condemned the broad delisting of adult games. In her post announcing the new distribution plan for VILE: Exhumed, Cara summed up the situation pretty aptly: “What this actually results in is taking power and storytelling away from women, other marginalized artists, and ultimately, from everyone.”
