Renowned Japanese illustrator and game creator Viv revealed on May 13 that their psychological horror visual novel This Game is Not Real has been pulled from Steam. The game’s Steam page appears to have been removed, leaving the developer with 24,000 Wishlist entries no longer valid.
Initially planned for a Q2 2026 Steam release, This Game is Not Real presents a surreal meta-narrative exploring the intense and destructive bond between two male game designers. In a unique gameplay approach, players assume the role of the “game” being crafted by one of the developers, who exhibits slightly unstable tendencies. Through point-and-click exploration and narrative segments, players interact with the developer and assist him in debugging his creation. As the story unfolds, players uncover fragments of his past embedded within the project’s data, guiding him toward finishing the game. The title tackles mature subjects such as violence, self-harm, murder, and sexual content, making it suitable for players 18 and older.
As detailed in Viv’s announcement on X, the decision to remove This Game is Not Real from Steam stems from the game “not meeting Steam’s release criteria.” The developer has opted to launch the title on domestic platforms DLsite and BOOTH instead. The problem with the Steam version appears unrelated to technical issues but rather tied to the game’s content. In response to commenters, Viv humorously suggested that the adult male characters in the game were “too cute” for the platform, and admitted they were uncertain from the outset about whether the game’s sexual scenes would face scrutiny. “I’m a gambler,” they remarked.
Luckily, This Game is Not Real is still set to arrive on DLsite and BOOTH later this month, though these versions will be exclusively in Japanese at launch. Viv has mentioned intentions to add support for additional languages in the future, while also welcoming fan-made translation patches in the interim.
Mido