Valve removed an Adults Only rating it had mistakenly applied to Nighthawks, a vampire RPG due on Steam on September 22, Dexerto reported on September 16. The label was dropped after an appeal, just days before the game's release.
While the rating was in place, Nighthawks did not appear in Steam's default search results, and its store page was blocked in several countries. According to Dexerto, only accounts with adult content settings turned on could find the game. With the label gone, the game shows up in standard searches again, including for users who are not logged in.
Dexerto reported that a Teen-rated point-and-click game was caught in a nearly identical mix-up in August, and that Valve also corrected that rating. Neither Valve nor Wadjet Eye has explained why the Adults Only label was added to Nighthawks' store page or why it was later removed.
Developer disputes the label
Nighthawks started as a Kickstarter campaign in 2018. The campaign promised hand-drawn art and a slow-burn vampire story, and did not mention sexual content. Developer Richard Cobbett told PC Gamer that the game's mature material is far less explicit than what viewers see on HBO, and is played more for comedy than titillation.
Wadjet Eye founder Gilbert called the experience stressful, but said it had one upside: according to Dexerto, wishlists for Nighthawks nearly doubled overnight as fans rallied behind the game. Gilbert said the episode was not a planned publicity stunt.
I'm not that dumb and I'm not that smart!
He also thanked fans who wishlisted the game during the dispute and noted that players who could not add it to their lists before can now do so. Nighthawks is set to launch on September 22 on Steam and GOG.
Dexerto described the mix-up as the latest example of Valve applying adult content labels inconsistently. It followed a vaguely worded payment processor rule that led Steam to quietly begin delisting adult games in 2025.