How to sell visual novels with adult content?

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Cosplay_Angel
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How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#1 Post by Cosplay_Angel »

I'm developing a visual novel that has sex scenes (nipples pixelated and genitals censored with the black bar you see in hentai that doesn't really do anything). There is also graphic gore in a few scenes.

To my knowledge, I cannot sell this game on Steam, and Itch uses PayPal and Stripe which don't allow transactions involving pornographic content. Any thoughts on how I can market this?

Location: Canada & US
Last edited by Cosplay_Angel on Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Imperf3kt
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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#2 Post by Imperf3kt »

You could use any other store which takes payment via credit card.

The only places I know of are DL Site and MangaGamer.
You can sell on DLSite yourself (for a commission based fee) or if you go with MangaGamer, I assume they'd have to license the game from you and your game would need a content rating. Those aren't cheap, by the way.
Warning: May contain trace amounts of gratuitous plot.
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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#3 Post by fleet »

Many people use Patreon to raise funds when developing their adult games, giving the game to those who contribute a certain amount. I read somewhere that they don't permit games with incest, but other adult themed VNS are okay.
Some of my visual novels are at http://www.the-new-lagoon.com. They are NSFW
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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#4 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

fleet wrote: Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:11 am Many people use Patreon to raise funds when developing their adult games, giving the game to those who contribute a certain amount. I read somewhere that they don't permit games with incest, but other adult themed VNS are okay.
They don't allow you to MENTION certain topics like incest on your Patreon page or posts. Patreon doesn't actually police content in the game itself.

But yeah, Patreon seems to be one of the only viable routes at the moment for making money from adult games. Mangagamer keeps having trouble with their credit card processor due to the adult content - who knows how long it will be up and working in the future. I believe they currently have to process payments through a company in Britain. :roll:

Steam can SORT of work, if the draw of your game isn't ALL adult content. Right now the adult content patch workaround still works, because while the developer can't mention or link to an uncensor patch, players can on the discussion page. But again, no telling how long until Valve crushes that loophole.

It's a shame that adults can't create legal content for other adults and make money from it because financial institutions have to impose a "moral" framework for transactions.

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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#5 Post by Cosplay_Angel »

fleet wrote: Tue Feb 13, 2018 12:11 am Many people use Patreon to raise funds when developing their adult games, giving the game to those who contribute a certain amount. I read somewhere that they don't permit games with incest, but other adult themed VNS are okay.
Oh wow, how could I miss this? Thanks so much!

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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#6 Post by gekiganwing »

Nutaku (website NSFW) might be an option. They offer adult games for browsers, pay-to-download, and mobile devices. They have a detailed page called "Game Developers and Publishers" which states what they offer for indie devs.

Also, Nutaku offers a crowdfunding site called Kimochi. It hasn't been especially active lately, but there is one project currently being funded there.

Sekai Project's website is worksafe. That said, they have a branch called Denpasoft (NSFW) which specializes in adults-only software. I had trouble finding information about what they offer for indie devs. However, I know they've worked with several English speaking groups. Therefore, think about contacting Sekai Project if you're creating pay-to-download software.
Cosplay_Angel wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2018 11:27 pm Itch uses PayPal and Stripe which don't allow transactions involving pornographic content...
I decided to look through Lewd Gamer articles in order to find other places where you could sell your content. While browsing, I learned that Azurezero on Itchi.io has started pre-orders for an explicit game called Kate's Test. The same person is already selling a variety of adults-only games through their Itch.io page. A few articles later, I learned that Argent Games is selling an explicit version of their BL title Chess of Blades through their Itchi.io site.

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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#7 Post by Lumi Violet »

Why do you plan to censor the nipples and genitals in your game? It's not illegal to show uncensored porn in something rated r18, and mild censoring isn't going to make a full on sex scene any more easy to sell.

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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#8 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

Lumi Violet wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 6:27 am Why do you plan to censor the nipples and genitals in your game? It's not illegal to show uncensored porn in something rated r18, and mild censoring isn't going to make a full on sex scene any more easy to sell.
Because it would be almost impossible to sell the game for money.

Yeah, none of it is illegal, but the major platforms don't allow 'pornographic games' to be sold (and it is up to them what qualifies as such), and payment processors like PayPal will not processor transactions for 'adult content'.

So, yeah, legally and creatively they can do whatever they want, but if they want to distribute it widely for money, they have to make certain considerations.

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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#9 Post by Imperf3kt »

If you plan to sell to Japan, then censoring genitalea and some certain words and even themes is actually a requisite.
Warning: May contain trace amounts of gratuitous plot.
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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#10 Post by arosia »

Patreon with an Itch.io delivery is probably your best bet.

I did look into Nutaku, and it might just be that I haven't had a long enough conversation, but I was turned off by their contract terms. They want your title exclusively on their platform, and they take a fairly substantial cut.

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Re: How to sell visual novels with adult content?

#11 Post by DeathSummoner »

I would highly recommend patreon and if not then other sites like itch.io
Last edited by DeathSummoner on Sun Feb 25, 2018 9:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

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