Steam’s New Rules, TV Show Power-Ups, Silksong’s Aftershocks

Hello there policy shakers, hype makers. Today we look at Steam’s quiet crackdown, TV adaptations boosting games like turbochargers, Silksong’s mega launch fallout, and a cozy sim that found a new home.

🚫 Valve Quietly Shuts the Door on “Mature” Early Access

Steam devs are reeling: Valve corporation no longer allows games with “mature themes” to launch in Early Access. Adult RPG Heavy Hearts was blocked despite being 70% complete — and the rules changed without a public announcement.

Developers now face a familiar wall: payment processors and conservative watchdogs pushing platforms to restrict NSFW content. Itch.io already de-indexed adult titles from search after July’s campaign against PayPal and Visa.

📢 “All of a sudden and without a policy announcement, the rules have changed and now I can’t join Steam EA.” — Heavy Hearts developer

🦊🍪 Kiki’s Take: “This isn’t about protecting players — it’s about Visa wagging the dog. Steam doesn’t want the fight, so they pass the pain to devs. And every time this happens, games vanish into the void. Don’t call it ‘policy,’ call it what it is: censorship by credit card.”

📺 TV Shows = Player Boosts on Steroids

Ampere Analysis reports: video game TV shows drive an average 140% increase in player numbers, outpacing film adaptations by miles.

Fallout’s Amazon Prime debut: +490% franchise boost, 14M new players, 100M viewers.
The Last of Us HBO series: +150% franchise engagement across two seasons.
Even “modest” shows help — Netflix’s Devil May Cry saw +358%.
Movies lag: +48% average uplift (though Mojang Studios Minecraft: The Movie still brought a 30% MAU bump).

📢 “Media adaptations are superchargers for the player bases of gaming franchises.” — Ricardo Parsons, Ampere Analysis

🦊🍪 Kiki’s Take: “Adaptations are the new DLC. You can patch bugs, drop expansions, or remaster Part 1 for the third time — but nothing floods servers like a Netflix hit. Publishers better get used to Hollywood holding the keys, because TV is now the biggest content drop a franchise can buy.”

🐞 Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Mega Numbers, Mega Fallout

Analysts estimate Team Cherry Silksong has sold 4.2M copies in two weeks — with Xbox Game Pass pushing total players toward 6M. Steam alone brought in ~$52M revenue, dwarfing every other metroidvania of 2025.

But success came with casualties. Releasing the same day, Rogue Factor’s Hell is Us was crushed. Its creative director called Silksong’s shadow-drop “a little callous” — likening it to the “GTA 6 of indies” blowing up the schedule.

📢 “Nowadays, getting a window where you’re pretty much alone is almost impossible.” — Jonathan Jacques-Belletête , Rogue Factor

🦊🍪 Kiki’s Take: “Silksong didn’t just launch, it nuked the calendar. Any indie foolish enough to share its release window got trampled. Call it ‘callous’ if you want, but that’s the industry: release dates are battlefields, and Hornet just skewered half the competition.”

🌱 Fae Farm Finds a New Home

Fae Farm, the cozy Canadian sim-RPG, has been acquired by Gambit Digital and partners. Phoenix Labs passes the torch, but the new collective promises ongoing support, new magic for Azoria, and a commitment to keeping the IP Canadian.

Originally launched in 2023, the game hit 500K+ players. Under new ownership, live services continue — with more expansions teased.

🦊🍪 Kiki’s Take: “Cozy games don’t need explosions to stay alive — they need communities. Fae Farm found new parents, and as long as they keep the vibes wholesome and the updates flowing, Azoria will keep paying rent in players’ hearts.”

🕹️ Marvel vs. Capcom Collection Hits 1M

Capcom’s Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics has sold 1M copies across platforms since 2024. Fans celebrate rollback netcode and definitive editions, but the future of the series is uncertain.

Meanwhile, arc system works co.,ltd is cooking Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls — a 4v4 anime-styled slugfest that could eat Capcom’s lunch the same way DBFZ redefined anime fighters.

🦊🍪 Kiki’s Take: “Capcom’s coasting on nostalgia while ArcSys sharpens the knives. Tokon looks slicker than Infinite ever dreamed of, and if it lands, Marvel’s fighting future won’t be in Capcom’s hands anymore. Rollback netcode won’t save you from irrelevance.”

Stay, Keep, Remember

Stay alert to platform policies — they change without warning.
Keep an eye on TV deals; they’re more valuable than DLC.
Remember that timing is everything: one megahit can wipe your launch off the map.

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