Idea for an adult game site

[DoAdventures]

Hey all, just wanted to throw this out there.

With everything going on around content restrictions, payment processors tightening up, and platforms becoming more hostile toward NSFW content, I’ve been seriously thinking about what it would take to create something better — a dedicated, developer-friendly space for adult games.

I’m just a small fish in a very big pond, and I’m sure some of the more successful devs already have backup plans (or even private platforms in the works). But for the rest of us — and the future of this space — maybe it’s time we started building something together.

I’m imagining something like Steam, but built from the ground up for us:

• Proper visibility and discoverability
• Real payment support (including adult-friendly options)
• Developer tools, fair rev split, safe community space
• No moral censorship, no shady algorithms burying your game

I don’t have all the answers or a team yet, just a vision and a bit of determination. But I know I’m not the only one thinking about this.

If this sparks any ideas, or if you’re a dev, player, or tech-minded person who’s tired of the uncertainty and gatekeeping — feel free to drop a reply or DM. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s something.

At the very least, maybe we start a conversation worth having.

So.... here is the idea


Platform Concept: "Ember"

(Working name — evocative, discreet, open to suggestions)


Core Idea:

A premium storefront, launcher, and ecosystem for adult and NSFW games, built to serve players and developers who are underserved by mainstream platforms like Steam, GOG, and Epic. Ember focuses on safety, quality control, discoverability, and frictionless payment systems that don’t discriminate against adult content.


Key Features:
️ 1. Steam-Like Storefront

• Categorized by genre, kink, engine (Ren'Py, Unity, RPGM, etc.)
• Developer tags (ex: consent-based, romance, power play, femdom, etc.)
• Optional NSFW preview mode toggle (so you can browse discreetly if needed)

2. Downloadable Game Launcher (Like Steam Client)

• Auto updates for games
• Save syncing (optional)
• Community tabs, developer blogs, patch notes
• Achievements / unlockables (integrated or dev-provided)

3. Adult-Friendly Community Ecosystem

• Built-in forums for every game
• Curated review system to avoid spam or moral policing
• Player profiles with preferences/tags for discovery
• Wishlist and “follow creator” options

️ 4. Payment Processor Independence

• Accepts crypto (BTC, ETH, stablecoins), prepaid adult-friendly cards, and direct card processing via adult-compliant providers like CCBill, SegPay, or Verotel
• Avoids dependence on Visa/Mastercard policy shifts by having multiple fallback processors and perhaps internal wallet credits
• Regional pricing to reach global markets (important for NSFW)

5. Developer-Friendly Revenue Model

• 10% platform cut (vs. Steam’s 30%)
• Optional subscription tools (Patreon-style support inside the launcher)
• Cross-promotion with adult content creators, voice artists, and animators
• Early access model and free demos fully supported

6. Safety & Compliance

• Clear boundaries for what’s allowed (consent, fantasy vs real, etc.)
• Content filters and user-controlled settings (e.g. “hide NTR,” “only show female protagonist games”)
• Fully age-gated platform with ID or wallet verification as needed
• DMCA protection service for devs (included or premium)

Differentiators from Steam:

Feature	Steam	Store Name
NSFW Search/Discovery	Buried or censored	Front-and-center
Adult Payment Support	Risky / limited	Fully integrated
Community Freedom	Restrictive rules	Dev-first policies
Dev Revenue Split	70/30	90/10
Content Filters	Minimal	Kink-specific toggles
Adult-Only Ecosystem	No	Yes (safe, trusted)

COST BREAKDOWN (Startup Phase)

Item	Estimated Monthly Cost	Notes
Web Hosting (VPS or Cloud)	£50–£300	Start with DigitalOcean, Linode, or Hetzner
CDN/File Hosting	£100–£500+	Bunny.net or Cloudflare R2 for bandwidth-efficient distribution
Developer/Platform Build	£5,000–£20,000 one-time	If you hire a small freelance team for MVP
Branding/UI Design	£500–£2,000	Logo, UI mockups, landing pages
Legal (ToS, Content Rules, etc.)	£500–£2,000	Adult platform requires a solid ToS/privacy/age-gating policy
Payment Processor Setup	£0–£500	CCBill, SegPay, Crypto (some have setup costs or revenue % cuts)
Marketing Budget	£200–£2,000/month	Twitter/X, Reddit, adult forums, F95 banners
QA + Testing	£0–£1,000	Volunteer testers or paid QA for bugs/security

I think a barebones MVP could be built for ~£8,000–£15,000

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[takoko]

The first hurdle is that you need to do that outside the US / UK.

Pornhub: Canada
Ehentai: Moldova
DLSite, DMM, etc: Japan

Where is F95 based? The IP seems to be from Belize.

The thing is... the feature list, royalty rate etc are not that important for now. Feature wise, and visibility/discoverability wise, this new platform can't outperform Steam. So the real problem is just how to ensure that 1) the player can pay you 2) you can pay the devs 3) FBI or equivalent won't knock your door.

 

[BlackKnight6666]

sounds ok but:
1 - it needs an option to easy link a CC (mos people have those) to an alternative payment that accept that site (so i use my CC to transfer money to payment processor X and with that i will buy games) and it should be easy enough (and not costly - free ideally).
2 - the platform needs to be known and regarded as safe (and it will take some time) by people

and the website provider, and country, should also be a "safe" one
and somebody that is willing to put his real name . I don;'t think we can skip this, but i might be wrong.

But it is a good idea and i think we could try it.
And I can help with some money or anything else if I can (and have the time) -> we can talk in private if you want, at some point.

 

[DoAdventures]

The first hurdle is that you need to do that outside the US / UK.

Pornhub: Canada
Ehentai: Moldova
DLSite, DMM, etc: Japan


Where is F95 based? The IP seems to be from Belize.

Yeah, that’s a really important point and one I’ve been looking into.

A lot of the adult platforms that have managed to survive long-term did so by being based outside the UK/US, or by at least routing their hosting, processing, and registration through more flexible jurisdictions. It’s not just about freedom of expression, it’s about avoiding sudden payment bans, legal headaches, and political pressure.

I hadn’t settled on anything yet, but places like Estonia, the Netherlands, or even Cyprus or Belize seem to come up often in adult tech circles. I think a digital-friendly country with clearer rules on adult content (and tax benefits) might be the way to go, even if I’m UK-based myself.

Would definitely be interested in hearing more from anyone who has experience setting up a business or hosting in these places, especially devs who've had to navigate this stuff for their games or Patreon alternatives.

Still just early days here, but it’s a conversation worth digging deeper into.

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

A lot of the adult platforms that have managed to survive long-term did so by being based outside the UK/US, or by at least routing their hosting, processing, and registration through more flexible jurisdictions. It’s not just about freedom of expression, it’s about avoiding sudden payment bans, legal headaches, and political pressure.

I hadn’t settled on anything yet, but places like Estonia, the Netherlands, or even Cyprus or Belize seem to come up often in adult tech circles. I think a digital-friendly country with clearer rules on adult content (and tax benefits) might be the way to go, even if I’m UK-based myself.

Would definitely be interested in hearing more from anyone who has experience setting up a business or hosting in these places, especially devs who've had to navigate this stuff for their games or Patreon alternatives.

I think Sam might have some insight on that point.

 

[takoko]

Yeah, that’s a really important point and one I’ve been looking into.

A lot of the adult platforms that have managed to survive long-term did so by being based outside the UK/US, or by at least routing their hosting, processing, and registration through more flexible jurisdictions. It’s not just about freedom of expression, it’s about avoiding sudden payment bans, legal headaches, and political pressure.

I hadn’t settled on anything yet, but places like Estonia, the Netherlands, or even Cyprus or Belize seem to come up often in adult tech circles. I think a digital-friendly country with clearer rules on adult content (and tax benefits) might be the way to go, even if I’m UK-based myself.

Would definitely be interested in hearing more from anyone who has experience setting up a business or hosting in these places, especially devs who've had to navigate this stuff for their games or Patreon alternatives.

Still just early days here, but it’s a conversation worth digging deeper into.

By the way, ehentai's file hosting is fully decentralized (I don't know how they incentive the communities to provide so much disk space and bandwidth). Which makes they're probably the most censorship resilient one now.

 

[DoAdventures]

sounds ok but:
1 - it needs an option to easy link a CC (mos people have those) to an alternative payment that accept that site (so i use my CC to transfer money to payment processor X and with that i will buy games) and it should be easy enough (and not costly - free ideally).
2 - the platform needs to be known and regarded as safe (and it will take some time) by people

and the website provider, and country, should also be a "safe" one
and somebody that is willing to put his real name . I don;'t think we can skip this, but i might be wrong.

But it is a good idea and i think we could try it.
And I can help with some money or anything else if I can (and have the time) -> we can talk in private if you want, at some point.

Really appreciate your thoughts, and honestly, hearing someone say they’d be willing to put up some capital or help out is huge. I agree 100%: if even a hundred devs each put in a little (financially or just with skills), we could absolutely get something off the ground.


You nailed some of the key concerns too:

1. Payments — yep, smooth CC-to-wallet conversion is essential. Nobody wants to jump through hoops just to buy a game. There are a few adult-friendly processors out there that could act as a bridge (or even allow pre-loaded site credits), but it needs to be easy and discreet — ideally without insane fees.
2. Trust — totally agree this will take time. We’d need to create a safe, dev-led platform that puts transparency, player security, and creative freedom front and center. That’s how we get the community to back it long-term.
3. Jurisdiction & Reputation — I’ve started researching this. Places like Estonia, the Netherlands, Belize, or Cyprus keep coming up. Somewhere that respects digital freedom and doesn’t shift policy every six months. As for the real-name part — yeah, I get that. I’m willing to be as transparent as needed, especially if we end up turning this into something serious and community-backed.

 

[MGGEDev]

It is a huge undertaking and many hoops to jump through but if someone actually managed to pull it off and it started getting good traffic, I'd be there right away.

 

[MGGEDev]

You need hosting in a country that can't be swayed by the dirty claws of censorship and a host that wont sell you out when some of these big corporations try to shut you down because they don't like your content.

Having everything decentralized is a must to avoid prudes trying to shut things down.

Then you need a way to get payments, probably crypto and preferably a way for customers to build a library. (Use their wallet ID or some form of anonymous login for the privacy conscious).

If you were able to implement crypto smart contracts for payments, you could even remove the need for a payment processor altogether and even automate the cut distribution between the site and the developer.

 

[takoko]

yep, smooth CC-to-wallet conversion is essential

Uh... it's true for usability, but what if visa/mastercard pressures your middlemen to pressure you?

 

[MGGEDev]

You'd also need to have some kind of way to verify someone isn't uploading a game that isn't theirs and selling it.

Though, it still happens on itch to this day so not easy to stop.

 

[BlackKnight6666]

Yeah, that’s a really important point and one I’ve been looking into.

A lot of the adult platforms that have managed to survive long-term did so by being based outside the UK/US, or by at least routing their hosting, processing, and registration through more flexible jurisdictions. It’s not just about freedom of expression, it’s about avoiding sudden payment bans, legal headaches, and political pressure.

I hadn’t settled on anything yet, but places like Estonia, the Netherlands, or even Cyprus or Belize seem to come up often in adult tech circles. I think a digital-friendly country with clearer rules on adult content (and tax benefits) might be the way to go, even if I’m UK-based myself.

Would definitely be interested in hearing more from anyone who has experience setting up a business or hosting in these places, especially devs who've had to navigate this stuff for their games or Patreon alternatives.

Still just early days here, but it’s a conversation worth digging deeper into.

I think Panama is also a good place. Many VPN services are based there. Some countries in europe (bulgaria, romania etc) that will not care enough to do anything =)) (but the are in EU so IDK, shouldn't be a problem but ... -> same with estonia)

 

[BlackKnight6666]

Uh... it's true for usability, but what if visa/mastercard pressures your middlemen to pressure you?

is harder for them to do so, they will not see what exactly are you buying.
but no solution is 100% bulletproof...

 

[BlackKnight6666]

You'd also need to have some kind of way to verify someone isn't uploading a game that isn't theirs and selling it.

Though, it still happens on itch to this day so not easy to stop.

AoA on steam? =))
that is an issue and it should be looked into, but I thinks it's a little early for this.

BTW: maybe we should have a discord or something, when people who are really interesintg in helping can talk.

 

[DoAdventures]

Uh... it's true for usability, but what if visa/mastercard pressures your middlemen to pressure you?

Absolutely and that’s the elephant in the room.

Even if we use adult-compliant processors like CCBill or SegPay, they’re still ultimately tethered to Visa/Mastercard policies, and as we’ve seen before, it only takes one policy shift or public scandal for those dominoes to fall.

That’s why I think the only sustainable option is to support multiple payment methods from day one, so we’re not reliant on a single chokepoint. For example:

• Card → wallet top-ups through processors like CCBill or Paxum (when allowed)
• Crypto (BTC, ETH, stablecoins) — already widely used in NSFW circles
• Direct SEPA transfers or even prepaid vouchers if we get big enough
• Fallback options: gift codes, game tokens, etc.

No one solution is bulletproof though, but if we diversify from the start, we’re at least more resilient than being fully exposed through Stripe or PayPal like some devs are now.

Worst-case, even if Visa pushes a processor to drop us, we’d still have crypto + alternative flows to keep the doors open. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than relying on Steam to stay brave forever.

Open to other ideas too, it’s clear this has to be baked into the foundation if we’re going to build something that lasts.

 

[DoAdventures]

AoA on steam? =))
that is an issue and it should be looked into, but I thinks it's a little early for this.

BTW: maybe we should have a discord or something, when people who are really interesintg in helping can talk.

Really good idea! I'll look to get one setup unless you are already on it?

 

[MGGEDev]

Uh... it's true for usability, but what if visa/mastercard pressures your middlemen to pressure you?

is harder vor them to do so, they will not see what exactly are you buying.
but no solution is 100% bulletproof...

At this point it is almost a guarantee for them to come after you once they realise so it is better to just cut them out altogether and think about an alternative.

As their glazers say, they choose who they want to do business with, so we should choose not to do business with them.

The problem is most of the solutions end up being crypto or something that is too many hoops to jump through for the average customer.

Such as buying "gift cards" elsewhere that can be conveniently used to buy games on the site or a custom on-ramp for crypto that is as easy as using a card.

 

[BlackKnight6666]

Really good idea! I'll look to get one setup unless you are already on it?

didn't have anything and I try to stay away for social media so i'm not the right guy to do this

 

[takoko]

Absolutely and that’s the elephant in the room.

Even if we use adult-compliant processors like CCBill or SegPay, they’re still ultimately tethered to Visa/Mastercard policies, and as we’ve seen before, it only takes one policy shift or public scandal for those dominoes to fall.

That’s why I think the only sustainable option is to support multiple payment methods from day one, so we’re not reliant on a single chokepoint. For example:

• Card → wallet top-ups through processors like CCBill or Paxum (when allowed)
• Crypto (BTC, ETH, stablecoins) — already widely used in NSFW circles
• Direct SEPA transfers or even prepaid vouchers if we get big enough
• Fallback options: gift codes, game tokens, etc.

No one solution is bulletproof though, but if we diversify from the start, we’re at least more resilient than being fully exposed through Stripe or PayPal like some devs are now.

Worst-case, even if Visa pushes a processor to drop us, we’d still have crypto + alternative flows to keep the doors open. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than relying on Steam to stay brave forever.

Open to other ideas too, it’s clear this has to be baked into the foundation if we’re going to build something that lasts.

Makes sense. You can probably offer a small discount when the user uses a more 'preferred' payment method, so you don't end up with 98% users using CC anyway.

By the way there is no reason to deal with the complexity of smart contract at first... the most prominent issues associated with crypto are not really solved by smart contracts. The issues are:

1. Buyers laundry illegal money via crypto. For example, someone stole a credit card or even a physical vouch card, then they buy games through your shop, then they resell the games/account.
2. Sellers simply don't deliver the promised product.

A Steam-like system kind solved 2 (manually review the game + a refund policy + holding the devs' money for certain amount of time + $100 initial fee). But obviously it's quite a hassle as well... and no way the devs would pay $100 upfront until you build some prestige.

I don't know if there is a real solution to 1.

 

[BlackKnight6666]

At this point it is almost a guarantee for them to come after you once they realise so it is better to just cut them out altogether and think about an alternative.

As their glazers say, they choose who they want to do business with, so we should choose not to do business with them.

The problem is most of the solutions end up being crypto or something that is too many hoops to jump through for the average customer.

Such as buying "gift cards" elsewhere that can be conveniently used to buy games on the site or a custom on-ramp for crypto that is as easy as using a card.

in the beginning (it will take at least an year for them to have you on they're radar) i don't think we can skip CC companies , but using a middle man should be enough for the site to be ok long enough to find an alternative.
and maybe something with more knowledge in that regard can give us some ideas