A WOMEN’S group has condemned the developer of a fantasy game about raping women in a zombie apocalypse.
The computer game, Rape Day, was set to be released on Steam, which is an online distribution platform for people to buy and play video games.
The game allows the player to be a sociopathic rapist who verbally harasses, kills and rapes women to progress through the story.
The game also contains themes including necrophilia, obscene language and incest. After causing a firestorm, Valve, the owner of Steam, has agreed not to release the game. However, the creator of Rape Day, Desk Plant, is not deterred.
On its website it wrote: “First step is setting up sale of the game somewhere else.
“The next step is reaching out to other quality developers whose games were banned, which includes pornographic content and nothing illegal, to organise a niche site where you can purchase porn games that are too morally reprehensible for Steam.”
Beverley Barstow, Brighton branch leader of the Women’s Equality Party (WEP), has slammed Rape Day’s developer.
She said: “I am absolutely shocked to the core that someone would think it’s OK to make sexual violence any part of a role-playing game narrative.
“Games and media like this are a cause and consequence of women’s inequality, perpetuating a culture where rape, sexual assault and harassment are ever-present.
“Two thirds of young women aged 14 to 21 in this country have been sexually harassed in a public place.
“Developers and gamers who make and play Rape Day may feel that it is just a bit of light entertainment, but they are contributing to an environment in which women and children are assumed to always be sexually available to men.
“At the WEP, we understand that changing women’s portrayal in the media is vital to changing wider cultural attitudes and ensuring that all women can be safe, free and equal.
“We want to encourage activism, find different ways of making our stories heard and to contribute to other movements like #metoo and #EndVAWG.”
Valve had previously embraced an “anything goes” attitude in relation to gaming content but this time it has decided to pull the plug.
It issued a statement which said: “Much of our policy around what we distribute is, and must be, reactionary.
“We simply have to wait and see what comes to us via Steam Direct.
“We then have to make a judgment call about any risk it puts to Valve, our developer partners, or our customers.
“We think Rape Day poses unknown costs and risks and therefore it won’t be on Steam.”
