Shortly before release, developer Santa Ragione Game Studio revealed that a preview build of the game had been banned when submitted to Steam in 2023. Valve sent them a blanket assessment claiming that, regardless of the developer's intentions, they could not sell the game because it "appears, in our judgment, to depict sexual conduct involving a minor", and did not clarify what specifically triggered the decision. Santa Ragione denied the claims, and speculated that it was due to an unfinished scene in the build:


Santa Ragione claimed the scene, as well as many other censored naked people and sex acts in the game, were intended to be unsettling social commentary and not sexually arousing, with the dialogue in the scene being a lecture on the threats of immoral behavior. Despite modifying the scene in the final game to replace the young girl with a "twenty-something woman", Valve upheld the ban following an appeals review and further refused to clarify what the offending content was. Epic Games Store and Humble also banned the game for unclear reasons, although Humble reversed it shortly after conducting their own review. Meanwhile, Good Old Games released a statement announcing they would not remove the game from their storefront and that they were proud to host it as they believed "players should be able to choose the experiences that speak to them". Santa Ragione claimed that this controversy threatened the security of the studio, as it would prevent access to external publishers and restrict their ability to recoup development costs, and accused Valve of perpetuating double-standards regarding censorship and the artistic value of video games compared to other mediums.