Are Porn Games a Viable Market?

Jason says, "Yeap, you read that right: I delved into a market mostly hidden from the public eye! That’s, of course, thanks to the Steam Deck causing me to check the store so often… But seriously, are these actual games?!"

NOTE: No pornographic or sexually explicit material is shown despite YouTube's age restriction on the video.

[Number1TailzFan]

Senran Kagura games are basically softcore so i mean yea.. And that's before you even get into the more adult stuff.

[CrimsonWing69]

I’m sure there’s a market, but I’d say it’s super niche and probably not “viable” in the sense of what traditional games sell to be viable.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

It's super niche because gamers want a solid game with 'porn' in it (like Cyberpunk 2077, but with more... stuff), not a 3-match game that's all softcore/nudity.

[porkChop]

Pretty much. I'm completely fine if there's gonna be graphic sex and stuff in a game, but the game itself and narrative still need to be compelling. If the game isn't fun why wouldn't I just watch porn instead?

[Gamingsince1981]

What I dont get is , the world is happy selling violence to kids but a hint of a nipple and everyone is like " omg ! 😱 will someone think of the children !!"

[InUrFoxHole]

Wrong time to think of the children my man. Just sayin

[CrimsonWing69]

I don’t think any of the games are aimed at kids. You have to understand that the medium has grown and evolved to tell complex stories and push beyond movies. These games all have ratings like movies, the thing is “video games” has the stigma of being a toy. I think now that you have parents who grew up with games they understand that it’s an entertainment medium that appeals to all ages.

I agree with societal hypocrisy where gratuitous and graphic violence is ok, but god forbid anyone designs an attractive character and puts her in a thong or a game has nudity. That’s apparently where we cross the line…

[shinoff2183]

Gamingsince1981

I've always wondered this. Especially in america(i live here). Guns guns guns kill shoot kill shoot. It gets old personally.

[RedDevils]

Who gonna breast feed them!

[DashMad]

DarkCookie got $60k monthly patreon so it is indeed viable. But it's a part of the reason his game will be on early access hell for a long time lmao.

[aaronaton]

I think the woke mob would class Dead of Alive games as porn, so i wouldn't get too caught up in the definition.

[refocusedman]

woke mob????? lol do you even know what the term woke refers to?

[CobraKai]

It used to be about racism and prejudice solely. Now it can encompass damn near anything anyone has beef with. So if there’s a toxic woman with a green flat top saying DOA is porn and it and its creators should be canceled for its sexualized and objectified depiction of women (nevermind that they’re all powerful asskickers), she’s “woke”.

[Aaroncls7]

you

[Eonjay]

Actually the term was created by black people to describe an enlightened awareness of the world around them and it's systemic unfairness. The term was stolen by racist people and its second coinage is a patronizing double entender making fun of those woke black people but later became to mean liberal... this is how mainstream conservative outlets used it.

So when you see people complain about Forspoken being woke, those people are actually using the correct original racist vernacular. A loud black person who thinks they are enlightened (racist meaning) or a black person who has broken away from typical group thought (original true meaning).

[BrainSyphoned]

Porn, even in its free form, generates as much money yearly as video games. Interactive video game porn sites are the only ones you can't easily get for free and they advertise non stop so I'd say they are doing fine. As far as Steam goes Hunie Pop is the only one I've purchased and it's a a great game.

[cooperdnizzle]

You are pretty far off thinking that the porn industry makes as much as the gaming industry. Gaming makes about 200 billion annually while porn only does about 85 to 90 billion. Still a lot of money but gaming has far surpassed it. Just saying.

[EternalTitan]

Witcher 3, Dragon Age and LAst of US 2 has these sex scenes so porn is definitely viable in games.
Last of us 2 won so many awards right?
You will not claim that an award winning porn game is 'wrong' will you?
So you will accept that PORN GAMES ARE VIABLE AND GOOD.

[cooperdnizzle]

You win the worst comment so far this year..

Just because a game has a sex scene does not mean it’s porn.. That would be just like saying Titanic is porn because it has nudity and shows them getting it on…. Hahaha.. preposterous.

Now if the last of us showed penetration, and the game focused on sex mostly with the world as a back drop than you could call it that…

I have to ask have you ever seen porn?? I’m guessing not..

That has to be one of the weirdest comments I’ve read in quite some time. Lol

[EternalTitan]

If a game has sex it is a porn game.
Are you telling me Subverse is not a porn game because it features gameplay?

[Bathyj]

And he followed it up with an even dumber comment

[cooperdnizzle]

@Bathyj. Yeah I am gonna listen to the dude who use’s and to start a sentence..

And truly if we live in a world where people think nudity or a sex scene is porn than clearly there are some of us that don’t have two brain cells to rub together…

[CobraKai]

Cooper is right.

A sex scene in a movie or game doesn’t make it porn. Even having a sex mini game like in God of War doesn’t make it porn.

Now if the Last of Us sole gameplay revolved around Ellie finding hook ups in a post apocalyptic world. And the core gameplay involved the actual act of sex in graphic detail and high end ray tracing,
Then yes that would be porn.

[Number1TailzFan]

Wrong, sexualized nudity = pornographic content. That's the definition of Ecchi, softcore.

So rubbing your breasts together in a sexual manner is not porn and is fine for kids to watch in your reasoning.. which is obviously absolute rubbish.

[CobraKai]

@Number
No. Just because it has sexualized nudity doesn’t mean it’s pornographic. The difference being that the sole purpose of porn is to incite sexual arousal. While a sex scene in a movie or TV show may do that, it’s not the intended purpose.

[EternalTitan]

Sex in god of war makes it porn. Because it gives red orbs. Which is used as currency for upgrade and unlock more sex scenes.

[CobraKai]

@Eternal
No. The Red Orbs upgrade your character. There’s only one hidden mini game in each game. Plus no sex is actually shown.

@Number
So by your definition. Any R rated movie, that happens to have sex in it, is porn? Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO+ are also porn sites?
Have you seen porn? You should check it out. You’ll see a difference between Kinky Stepsister and Basic Instinct.

[z2g]

Well…. Porn is the largest industry in the world, so… probably.

[hotnickles]

I don’t think people want porn they just want attractive characters honestly lol. The whole “sexualizing characters” phase we went through was really weird to the point they were making ugly characters on purpose.

Like mortal kombat going from “all females are strippers with fake jugs” in mk9 to “all females are curve-less asexuals and flat as a board” in mk11. Just stop overthinking things lol. It’s not complicated.

[TheEnigma313]

get a real woman. I promise, it's much better than playing this smut.

[AgitUzumaki]

No it’s not. More advanced sexdolls will replace woman in the future.

[TheEnigma313]

for losers who are scared of women,.

[Da1rocky]

lol at someone using smut unironically

[Crows90]

Love how this guy "delved" into porn games.

[OneLove]

If there are enough consumers, then there is a market.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

not sure why this is even a question lol of course they are. there’s a huge market in japan and there are multiple sequels for games/franchises that have been around for 15+ years now. there’s a reason why they’ve trickled over to steam over the past few years. people got a taste of what these games have to offer and their popularity has gone up exponentially each year since. it’s a very viable market, it’s just obviously people aren’t gonna be generally going around telling their friends and family how great a game it was.

[LoveSpuds]

Doesn't matter what appetite there is for a game based solely on porn, the major platform holders will never permit that kind of content on their systems.

It's one thing to have a sex scene in a game, or scantily clad characters in games but I just don't see platform holders allowing porn.

[mastershredder]

No. Not unless you want a shady rep your entire career and a limited income stream. Yeah totally Viable.

[TheColbertinator]

If there is a market and remains legal then yes. Keep in mind that big time publishers like EA, Ubisoft and Microsoft won't suddenly shift focus to make those games anytime soon.

[HyperMoused]

Id say it will be more like movies, porn movies are viable and have their own awards etc, are they the mainstream thing and at the academy awards no they are a genre to themselves...the games will be like that.

[DefaultComment]

I say adiult games are basically a niche slice of the market, there is a deman mind you but it's not as big as the traditional gaming market. so I say it's fine as long as they can make a descent game and not just a fapping simulator.

[HeliosHex]

Porn games have been thriving in Japan for decades. One such company illusion soft has been around and thriving for over 20 yrs with its highest selling game honey select 2 solidifying the company as a leader in eroge type games. Many independent companies have sprang out of patreon and spilled onto steam as well with games like she will punish them. Like the old saying goes sex sells and its true if the game is good. Sex games are niche and not expected to have a billion dollar backing with incredible plot lines but they are expected to deliver a quality sex experience and or lots of realistic T/A with plenty of jiggle. Sex games right now are seeing a surge thanks to VR. it is possible to make money and be a leader in that genre as illusion soft has proven there is a market out there for it. Years ago team ninja knew it as well when they launched the titillating DOA series simply to stand out against other fighters through sexuality. They drove that point home with DOABV and that series has proven lucrative. Even now that it's strictly online for Japan only its making lots of money. Not all games need be hard-core sex sometimes erotica is enough if done right. Bottom line is there has been and always will be a market for games of a sexual nature. Though consoles will never get these games. They will continue to succeed just fine on PC.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Titties are titties.

[northpaws]

I can just watch porn first and then play actual games afterward, it is not like I have three hands.

[drizzom]

They can be if they could stop being harassed by some overly censorious platforms.

[Doomeduk]

If someone was moose ugly I could see a market for those people ,the rest of humanity looks for a liked minded partner