Warning: The following article covers graphic topics such as sexual assault and rape.
The video game ‘No Mercy’ was pulled ahead of its launch on Steam by Zerat Games, following outrage over the game’s content, which the developers described as "unavoidable non-consensual sex."
The game would have seen players take the position of a male protagonist who is encouraged to "become every woman's worst nightmare," and "never take no for an answer."
The graphic content included acts of incest, rape, violence and blackmail. “After your mother’s affair shatters your family, you take on a new role: not to fix what’s broken but to claim her for yourself,” the game’s descriptor read.
Game's developers pull the simulation
Zerat Games claimed that much of the outrage had been stirred by “false information” about the game.
“Many people, unfortunately, confuse fiction with reality, attributing fabricated stories where people who play 'No Mercy' then go out on the street and commit vile acts. In general, all those who played it are mentally ill and hate their mothers and women in general. That's how it's generally presented, and we completely disagree with this...,” the developers wrote in a community update on Steam.
“I guarantee that during production, no one was harmed, and we all consider ourselves completely normal and healthy individuals. However, we are concerned about the mental health of people who sent us emails. Some descriptions of what you would do to us were really sick compared to what could be found in ‘No Mercy.'"
While the developers condemned incest as “disgusting,” they asserted that the game had simply allowed players to engage in a pornographic fetish.
“If someone is sick, dangerous, and might actually harm someone, would playing a game or watching pornography increase their desire to do so? We sincerely doubt it; rather, they'll satisfy this need at home and perhaps save someone from harm,” the developers asserted.
“We would like you to be a bit more open to human fetishes that don't harm anyone, even though they may seem disgusting to you,” they concluded. “This is still just a game, and although many people are trying to make it into something more, it remains and will continue to be a game.”
Welfare concerns for children
While Steam requires players to be over the age of 18 to purchase the game, child welfare experts have warned that kids can get their hands on inappropriate games by simply ticking a box.
“Tech companies make it as easy as possible for kids to go on and put in a fake age and put in a card,” child mental health expert Nova Eden told LBC.
Sociologist Dr Jamilla Rosdahl warned the Sydney Morning Herald that the game was part of a greater issue - an algorithm-enabled echo chamber that would see young boys introduced to the extreme and often misogynistic world of the ‘manosphere.’
“Once they are in the manosphere, it can be very difficult to get out of it,” she said. “[Pornography] is becoming increasingly violent … our research also shows that young people who have viewed this content have more narrow views on relationships, and more ideas about controlling behaviours towards girls and women are seen more as normal, something that real men should do.”
“Sexual violence is not a game—it’s a grave reality that devastates lives. Platforms like Steam must stop profiting from content that not only glorifies abuse and exploitation but outright encourages it,” said Haley McNamara, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
Sexual violence is not entertainment.“No Mercy” encourages players to sexually assault women. That’s not a game—that’s abuse.We join @CollectiveShout and allies worldwide in demanding @Steam take global responsibility and remove this content.Read Press Statement:… pic.twitter.com/WWC0dXUUBl
— National Center on Sexual Exploitation (@NCOSE) April 9, 2025
Sexually violent video games
Steam pulled a similar game from its store in 2019, Rape Day, after public outcry, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The game allowed users to play as a serial killer rapist.
The game also came amid a wider conversation in Australia about the policing of video games. Earlier this month, according to Australian media reports, 32-year-old Alec Stephen West was arrested for his role in making a child-abuse simulation game, which involved more than 140,000 child exploitation files.
West, who has children of his own, was sentenced last week to 11 years imprisonment and ordered to pay $850,000. During the trial, Wes also pleaded guilty to a number of other crimes, including possessing actual footage of children being sexually abused and to filming three women without their consent in their own homes.