For more than a decade, Steam has reigned supreme as the go-to game client for PC gamers, and its dominating presence in the market continues to this day. However, within the last couple years, once-dormant game clients have started to chip away at Valve’s market shares, fragmenting the PC world into a variety of different launchers from different companies. Now, the niche, adult gaming platform Nutaku has joined the fray with a dedicated client of its own.
Nutaku, the platform and distribution service that specializes in more adult-themed, erotic anime-style titles, is perhaps the only relevant company that deals with this niche genre. With Steam’s stringent policies on adult content (though that is starting to change) and Sony’s recent crackdown on uncensored titles, Nutaku might be the only haven left for the more open-minded gamer.
Traditionally, they focus more on browser games, with selections in downloadable titles and mobile games as well. With an impressive 100 million visitors this month and more than 20 million registered users, Nutaku is shifting to dedicated client and partnering with Kimochi Red Light, the platform for crowdsourced adult games. With the press release of the announcement on Game Vicio, it has become clear that Nutaku plans to cement its place as the primary platform for the sex game market, with goals of global outreach.
“We are happy to announce the optimized client, serving our platform and the needs of our users,” Julie Hall, Nutaku’s communications manager said. “We have some interesting projects in progress, including something for mobile users and consoles, as we prepare for the global customer rollout.”
While Steam is the all-in-one package for most third-party needs, fellow competitors have begun to rack up an impressive resumé of their own, such as GOG and GamersGate. Meanwhile, existing publishers have begun building their own exclusive distribution platform for their games as well, from Microsoft’s newly revamped Xbox/PC storefront and EA’s Origin service, to Ubisoft’s oft-overlooked UPlay, Bethesda’s launcher that has adopted Fallout 76, and Activision Blizzard’s well-known Battle.net.
The current trend going forward seems to be a transition into fragmentation, as these companies are racing to pull as many gamers into their ecosystem as possible. Though for Nutaku, as the sole provider of games marketed in a lewder nature, its intentions are undoubtedly for a more streamlined gaming experience.