In mid-May, Plantation Simulator by FzzyBzzy was released on PC on Steam. Soon, this "farm simulator" attracted attention and became actively discussed online.
The reason lies in the setting: the developer offered players the role of a planter who "motivates" dark-skinned people to work under threat of beating. After some time, the game's creator released an update and replaced the NPCs with white women, started using the word "friends" instead of "slaves," and now motivates female employees with "kisses":
Step into the shoes of a determined plantation owner in Plantation Simulator – a simple yet engaging farming simulator set in the NEW ERA of American plantations! Your goal is simple: grow crops, manage your FRIENDS, and turn your plantation into a thriving farm.
For several weeks, Valve's moderation has been inactive — Plantation Simulator is being sold on Steam. Some users and media began to criticize the company for allowing such content to be sold in its store. However, not everyone shares the opinion that Valve is obliged to remove this game from Steam.
For example, hobozombie believes that the market should decide if game content does not violate the law:
Why should [Valve] say anything about it? If people don't like the game, then they shouldn't buy it. I think Steam shouldn't interfere in such matters unless the content violates the law.
Why should Valve be the arbiter of what is "hate speech" and what isn't? Where should they draw the line?
Thenidhogg recalled activists from Collective Shout — last year, adult games were removed from digital stores because of them, but they are doing nothing against such a racist game:
Forget about Steam moderators, where's the group of puritanical Australian moms?? Wait, they only care about the display of breasts [in video games]
Recently, FzzyBzzy announced that he would soon remove Plantation Simulator from Steam himself:
Hello, friends, lol >:3 We have decided to stop distributing the game! We think we've said everything that needed to be said. We saw opportunities and took advantage of them. We contacted Steam to remove the game from the store page. We don't know when they will be able to process the request, but we hope it will happen soon!
The peak online for Plantation Simulator on Steam reached 108 players. Some users could get refunds for the game, but there are also collectors, so FzzyBzzy managed to both troll users and earn money at the same time.