Nighthawks Gets Steam Adults-Only Rating Lifted Before September 23 Launch
The reversal came down to Gilbert's own account of his connections and fan base, not a change in Valve's stated standards, which remain unclear to developers without that leverage.
Key Facts
- Steam applied an adults-only rating to Nighthawks on September 13, 2026, shortly before its September 23, 2026 release date.
- The adults-only rating was lifted on September 15, 2026, after publisher Wadjet Eye Games objected to Valve.
- The adults-only rating made Nighthawks unavailable for sale in some countries, including Germany, and removed it from default Steam search results.
- Nighthawks is set for release on PC via Steam and GOG.com, and does not currently support Japanese.
- Nighthawks raised $136,128 on Kickstarter in 2018 against a $125,000 goal.
Reporting from 3 sources: Automaton, GameBusiness.jp, Game Spark.
Publisher Wadjet Eye Games was preparing to release the vampire adventure game Nighthawks on September 23, 2026, when Steam applied an adults-only rating on September 13. The rating removed the game from default search results and made it unavailable for sale in some countries, including Germany, according to writer and designer Richard Cobbett. Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games posted on Bluesky that Valve was treating the game like a porn game and said Valve believed the game was sexier than it is. Cobbett told PC Gamer that the nudity and sexual elements are mild and mostly comedic in tone, with sex scenes amounting to a fade-out after characters go on a date followed by a "10 minutes later" message. The adults-only rating was lifted on September 15 after the developer objected. Valve gave no clear explanation for the rating or its reversal. Nighthawks is set for PC release on Steam and GOG.com.
Nighthawks is a co-development between Wadjet Eye Games and Richard Cobbett, who wrote and designed Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies. The studio is known for The Blackwell Legacy, Unavowed, and The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, while development of Nighthawks is handled by The Curiosity Engine. Cobbett also cites Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines as an influence.
The game began as a Kickstarter campaign in 2018, raising $136,128 against a $125,000 goal, and spent years in development before reaching Steam. In the game, the player wakes as a vampire six months after their own death, in a city where humans and vampires coexist uneasily, and can run a nightclub or pursue personal ambitions.
Cobbett's defense to PC Gamer was blunt: "Vampires are inherently sexy, seductive beings, and Nighthawks is certainly a game for adults. However, the nudity and other sexual elements are very mild, mostly comedic in tone, and cannot be compared to the explicit content aired in HBO dramas."
The fallout was not entirely negative. Steam wishlist numbers "nearly doubled overnight" after the rating drew press coverage, and Gilbert said the incident "tricked the Steam algorithm into thinking it was a popular game." He added that he believes the problem was resolved quickly only because he had strong connections, a fan base, and influence, and that many other developers would struggle to do the same. The Steam store page still reads, "This game contains frequent nudity and sexual content."
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.