Steam’s storefront currently features a game called Crown of Lust [18+] 👑, an adult visual novel where you “seduce your way to freedom.” It sits in the “Featured Win” slot — meaning Valve’s algorithm or curation team actively chose to spotlight it. Sixty-one people are playing it right now. One of them has promised himself he will “definitely do something useful” after he finishes.

That review, from a player with 2.5 hours logged, is one of 58 that have Crown of Lust sitting at “Very Positive” on Steam — 95 percent approval. Another player reported dreaming of “a little house and a busty farm girl” but becoming “the kingdom’s top seducer” instead. A third called it “a little 18+ story for the evening” that “does the job,” provided you grab it on sale. The game, from developer Taboo Tales 💘, costs $9.14 at the moment, down from $14.99.

Crown of Lust itself is not the story. It is a spicy adventure-casual-RPG about a hustler navigating court intrigue with his pants as much as his wits. The art is competent, the writing is apparently funny, and there is “some jank.” What makes this notable is where it is sitting: on Steam’s front door, in a curated chart position, being actively promoted to millions of users.

From Purge to Promotion

Nine months ago, Steam was doing the opposite. In July 2025, Valve updated its rules to comply with stricter requirements from payment processors — Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal — after a campaign by the Australian organization Collective Shout, which pressured financial companies to stop facilitating payments for games depicting sexual violence. The result was sweeping. Thousands of adult titles disappeared from Steam and itch.io in weeks, according to The Guardian. The purge caught not only the games Collective Shout targeted, but also titles exploring queer identity and sexuality.

Valve confirmed to PC Gamer that it was “retiring” several games, though it declined to clarify which ones or what content now violated its rules. The episode laid bare an uncomfortable truth about digital distribution: payment processors, not platform owners, often decide what you can buy.

The FTC Steps In — Sort Of

In March 2026, the landscape shifted again. FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson sent warning letters to the CEOs of Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, and Stripe, reminding them that denying service to customers over their “political or religious views” could violate the FTC Act. The letters cited a Trump executive order from August 2025 targeting the “debanking” of law-abiding citizens.

The politics are tangled. Ferguson’s announcement referenced surveillance of January 6 participants, not indie visual novels. But the practical effect may be broader. Ferguson specifically warned Mastercard that it must not “countenance unlawful debanking by members that process transactions on its network” — which, as PC Gamer noted, “effectively describes what happened with Steam in 2025.” Payment processors had cited Mastercard’s own policies on “illegal or brand-damaging transactions” as the reason for demanding game removals.

Whether this pressure enabled Crown of Lust to appear on Steam’s featured charts is unclear. Valve has not commented on its current content policies, and the FTC’s warning leaves payment processors considerable wiggle room. But the juxtaposition is stark: a platform that was purging adult content last summer is promoting it this spring.

The Storefront Gap

Steam occupies a peculiar position in the gaming ecosystem. Epic Games Store and console platforms — PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo — still refuse to stock explicit adult content. Steam’s open approach, powered by its dominant market position and willingness to let users filter what they see, has made it the de facto home for adult games on PC. The “Featured Win” for Crown of Lust suggests Valve is not just tolerating the category but willing to surface it.

For Taboo Tales, the calculus is simple. Sixty-one concurrent players is modest by any standard. But the visibility of a featured spot — the algorithmic equivalent of being placed face-out on a bookstore shelf — is something most indie developers never receive. That Valve is willing to extend that treatment to an 18+ seduction adventure says something about where Steam’s curation is headed.

Or, as one reviewer put it: “Right now, I’ll just finish playing and then I’ll definitely do something useful.”

Sources