Choose a publishing route that can carry the game you are making. Its sexual content, public previews, delivery method and payment model all matter. An engine's export button and a working checkout cannot tell you whether a store or service will accept it. Build a dated release plan around current policies and answers about your project.
The publishing directory ranks places worth investigating and links to their policies. Treat those recommendations as a starting point. They do not promise approval, visibility or sales; you still need an answer for your own edition.
Describe the edition you intend to submit
Write a plain inventory of the game's content, optional components, generated assets, live generation and user inputs. Describe the sexual content directly. Record the downloadable product separately from its trailer and store-page images, so a reviewer can see what appears where. Make the adulthood of fictional characters and the intended adult audience unambiguous.
State how money and files will move: a free download, paid purchase, membership-funded release or another agreement. Include the delivery method and the countries you intend to serve. These details help a reviewer or publisher assess the product your team is building. A vague pitch for an '18+ game' leaves most of the useful questions unanswered.
Steam: investigate disclosure and review
Steam's content survey distinguishes pre-generated AI content shipped with the game from AI content generated while the game runs. Describe each relevant use and, for live generation, the safeguards against illegal output. Steam's documented policy currently excludes live-generated Adult Only Sexual Content.
Pre-generated AI assets still undergo review after disclosure. Prepare accurate survey answers, rights records and a representative build; disclosing an asset does not guarantee its acceptance. Check the current onboarding requirements and leave time to resolve submission questions before announcing a release date.
Adult-focused distribution and independent hosting
Use Nutaku's onboarding material to prepare a discussion about an adult-focused release. Settle approval, compliance requirements and commercial terms directly with the platform.
Check itch.io's creator FAQ alongside the payment requirements for your game. Its July 2025 announcement about reindexing free adult content does not answer whether you can sell your paid release now. If you sell through your own website, review hosting, payments, customer support and access requirements together.
Membership funding has separate presentation rules
Patreon's Adult/18+ rules cover member content and public presentation. Public previews, banners and other public spaces must be free of nudity, sexual activity and sexually explicit works. Its rules also distinguish illustrated or animated subjects from real or hyperrealistic ones. A fictional rendered character does not automatically settle that classification.
Check what paying members can receive before setting your tiers and choosing previews. Membership funding brings recurring communication and delivery responsibilities. Set an update promise you can sustain, archive deliverables and report progress honestly. An uncertain production schedule should stay visibly uncertain, even when a confident date would make a better sales pitch.
Mobile stores and payments are independent gates
Apple's App Store and Google Play restrict explicit sexual content under their own policies. Review store eligibility separately from mobile compatibility. If you plan a non-explicit edition, assess its content and public presentation in their own right before building a release plan around either store.
Stripe prohibits adult content designed for sexual gratification. Selling through your own website does not remove that rule. Confirm that your payment arrangement accepts the actual product and business model before building your sales plan around it. Describe both honestly; disguising the game or adding a generic checkout cannot resolve eligibility.
Prepare the submission and support record
Make a submission checklist covering required forms, rights evidence, content disclosures, preview assets, build tests and support contacts. Give each dependency an owner and status so unanswered questions stay visible. Keep the source URLs, dates and any correspondence about your project with that record.
Before release, compare the final build and public description with the approved scope. Archive the package, policy snapshot and notices together. Recheck the relevant requirements before an update adds content, changes generation behavior or changes how you sell or distribute the game. The release record should describe what players will actually receive.
Key decisions
- Review the edition, public previews and payment model together.
- AI disclosure still leaves platform acceptance to review.
- Keep dated policies and answers about your own project.
- Recheck eligibility when the game or its distribution changes.
Guide files
Release checklist ↓License register ↓External model communities and publishing sites may contain explicit material. Source links open in a new tab; this guide does not load their previews.
Sources & further reading +
- Steam content survey ↗
- Nutaku onboarding ↗
- itch.io creator FAQ ↗
- Patreon guidelines ↗
- Apple review guidelines ↗
- Google Play sexual content policy ↗
- Stripe adult content restrictions ↗
Last checked 5 October 2026.