If you were hoping to play Future? No Thanks! this week, you're going to have to wait a little longer. The indie open-world satire has been hit with a last-minute delay because Steam's content reviewers are demanding a "watch the sex scene" button to evaluate a few seconds of untextured polygons depicting "ass and boobs." It's a bizarre, almost farcical roadblock that highlights just how inconsistent and opaque Valve's approach to adult content on its platform really is.
What Actually Happened
Developer Paulo Pedercini, the mind behind the politically charged studio Molleindustria, revealed on social media that Future? No Thanks! has been stuck in Steam content review for over three weeks. That's well past the seven business days Steamworks documentation says the process should take. The holdup? A few seconds of mild nudity in a game that's primarily a satire of open-world design, late-stage capitalism, and the absurdity of modern life.
According to Pedercini, Valve's reviewers refused to accept video footage of the nudity in question, but also weren't willing to play through the entire six-hour game to see it in context. Instead, they requested a special build with a "watch the sex scene" button so they could skip straight to the questionable polygons. It's a solution that feels less like content moderation and more like a bizarre compromise born from an overworked, under-resourced system.
Why This Matters for Developers
This isn't a one-off headache. The delay adds to a long-standing impression that Valve's adult content policies are both nebulous and arbitrarily enforced. Last year's Horses debacle, where a game about horse grooming was briefly pulled for similar reasons, showed that even non-sexual content can get caught in the crossfire. The difference here is that Future? No Thanks! is explicitly about sex, death, and the human condition — the nudity isn't gratuitous, it's narrative.
The game's protagonist, Harvey Huffstone, has applied for euthanasia, and completing a bucket list — including a sexual encounter — is part of proving his commitment to dying. That's the kind of context a moderation team should probably experience in full before making a call. Asking a developer to build a "skip to the sex" button feels like an admission that Valve's reviewers simply don't have the time or bandwidth to do their jobs properly.
"If Valve are serious about curating 'adult' material on Steam, and not just banhammering taboo games to appease their domineering payment partners, it seems important to play through games to understand the context of any sexy goings-on."
The Bigger Picture: Steam's Content Moderation Crisis
This isn't just about one game. Steam releases thousands of titles every year, and Valve's content review team is notoriously understaffed. The result is a system that can feel arbitrary: some games with explicit content sail through without issue, while others get held up for weeks over a few seconds of nudity. The phrase "features ass and boobs" could describe both Mass Effect and 2019's hit Steam release Love Hentai: Fap Fast, Die Young, yet those games received wildly different treatment.
Pedercini's situation also raises questions about what Steam's reviewers are actually evaluating. If they can't watch video footage and won't play the game, what criteria are they using? The demand for a dedicated "watch the sex scene" button suggests a checkbox approach to content moderation that has little room for nuance. It's a system designed for speed, not for understanding artistic intent or narrative context.
Counterpoint: Is This Really That Bad?
To be fair, Valve's content reviewers are dealing with an impossible workload. Thousands of games launch on Steam every year, and many of them include some form of adult content. The platform has also faced pressure from payment processors like Visa and Mastercard, who have their own strict policies on what can be sold. A reviewer asking for a shortcut isn't necessarily laziness — it might be the only way to keep the pipeline moving.
But that doesn't make the situation any less frustrating for developers. Building a special build with a "watch the sex scene" button takes time and resources that small indie teams don't have to spare. And for a game like Future? No Thanks!, which is already finished and ready to ship, the delay feels particularly cruel.
What Comes Next
Pedercini has submitted the special build, so the game should be approved soon. But the broader issue isn't going away. As long as Steam's content review process remains opaque and under-resourced, more developers will find themselves in similar situations. The solution isn't to force devs to build "skip to the sex" buttons — it's to hire more reviewers who can actually play the games they're evaluating.
For now, Future? No Thanks! remains in limbo. It's a shame, because the game is reportedly good fun — a sharp, satirical take on open-world design that doesn't deserve to be held up by a few seconds of untextured polygons. Hopefully, Valve will sort this out soon, and Harvey Huffstone can get back to ticking off his bucket list. Preferably without having to build a special button for it.
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