UPDATE: Scroll down to see our response to Zerat Games (developer of No Mercy)
Earlier this week, we exposed 12+ gaming platform Steam hosting rape and incest-themed game No Mercy. In the game, players assume the persona of a man who rapes his female family members as revenge for his mother’s infidelity.
Following our complaint to the Australian Classifications Board, the game was taken down in Australia. Canada and the UK followed, and developer Zerat Games withdrew the game, while our petition hit over 70k signatures – all in less than a week!
In response to our campaign against the rape simulation game, we were subjected to harassment and abuse from gamers defending their access to it (and proving our point in the process). We respond to their arguments below.
“Why don’t you go after real exploitation?”
Our movement is called Collective Shout: for a world free of sexploitation. In the 15 years we have existed, we have run countless campaigns against the sexual exploitation of women and girls. We’ve held global platforms to account, forcing them to remove child sexual abuse material and to implement tools and processes to protect kids. We’ve been part of global collaborations to hold major porn sites accountable for crimes against women and girls. We’ve stood with survivors of prostitution and trafficking in calling for laws that empower women to exit the industry and criminalise their exploiters. We’ve exposed crimes of violence against women and children around the world and called for change. We’ve written government submissions, published research, written books, spoken at international conferences and addressed thousands of students, parents and teachers. Our work – including many victories over the years – speaks for itself. We think it’s pretty apparent to anyone who has been paying attention that we have spent many years fighting ‘real’ exploitation.
We also recognise that men’s violence and abuse of women and children does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in a context where women are objectified and portrayed as things existing for men’s sexual entertainment and use, and one where violence against women is normalised, trivialised and even glorified. We acknowledge the role of female objectification, male entitlement to women’s bodies and attitudes of sexism as contributors to men’s violence against women.
We reject the notion that media encouraging men and boys to act out virtual rape for entertainment is separate and distinct from ‘real’ exploitation. The messages about men and women reinforced in this game – that manhood is associated with violence, control and domination, and women deserve and enjoy rape – fuel real life violence and abuse of women.
“What about all the games with sexual violence against men in them?”
When women raise concerns over male violence against women, it’s not uncommon for a subset of men to engage in such ‘whataboutery’ to deflect from and shut down these important conversations, so it’s no surprise some male gamers have done so here.
It is an irrational claim that by objecting to a game that promotes male sexual violence against women, we must therefore endorse games that promote sexual violence against men. No Mercy centres around a male character raping female family members as punishment for his mother’s infidelity. This is not a game promoting sexual violence against men. As such, we have not weighed in on sexual violence against men. We have limited our criticisms to the content of this game.
It is also possible to be against both sexual violence against women *and* sexual violence against men. We do not believe that in order to object to a game that promotes sexual violence against women exclusively that we need to qualify our objection by stating every other kind of violence we are opposed to.
“In fiction, sexual violence *is* entertainment”
In fiction, both physical and sexual violence – along with many other criminal or otherwise socially undesirable acts – are frequently depicted as part of a story intended for entertainment purposes. However, the depiction of such acts in a film or book is not the same as glorifying these acts (though some fiction certainly does). No Mercy does not merely depict incest and rape – it glorifies them. More than that, the game is premised on males assuming the role of a male character who does the raping. It is a rape simulation game where men and boys virtually rape their mother and aunt.
We also exposed reviews from male gamers who reported they initially found the concept of raping their fictional mother uncomfortable, but were surprised by how much they enjoyed it:
“I’m not even into domination stuff and being a **** to other people doesn’t turn me on, but still found it appealing for some reason, guess I’m a man after all.”
“I didn’t think I would enjoy this game as it is centred on manipulation of the stepmom. But it ended up being quite good. It was hard at first to be a scumbag in doing those things to the stepmom, but it actually became a bit of fun.”
“It’s a game, it’s not real – you can’t rape pixels on a screen”
It’s well-documented that the media we consume shapes our attitudes – what we think is normal, acceptable and desirable. (Just ask the multi-billion-dollar advertising industry!) Take for example pornography. As sexual ‘choking’ (strangulation) has become a staple sex act in mainstream porn, choking or strangulation outside of porn has become increasingly common. This is no coincidence. Porn eroticises this act of violence, resulting in consumers acceptance of it. Porn is a form of media that influences how people behave in their real-world sexual encounters.
Our objections to games where men and boys simulate rape are not on the basis we believe the virtual women they practice on will be harmed, but because desensitising men and boys to women’s pain and treating sexual violence as entertainment harms actual women and girls.
“If you don’t like it, don’t play it”
We don’t like it and we don’t play it (and neither can Steam gamers, now). But we have to live in a world full of men and boys who do, and whose contempt for women and girls and entitlement to their bodies is reinforced by games like this. We have to inhabit a world where men and boys around us think that rape is a bit of fun, and cannot see women as human beings. Media that promotes rape and encourages men and boys to act it out on virtual women for entertainment – like this game – feeds into the very attitudes that fuel men’s violence against us.
When men who claim this rape simulation game – along with other misogynistic content they consume – has no bearing on real-world behaviours send us sexist abuse and threats, we can’t help but notice the irony.
“You’re restricting freedom of expression”
We don’t accept that men and boys have a right to access rape simulation games where they can practice acting out virtual rape for entertainment. We do not accept that the desire to play games that promote sexual violence against women who are framed as deserving rape or secretly desiring rape should take precedence over women and girls' basic human rights.
We also note that all this “free expression” – including abuse to women who publicly object to rape games – often takes place from behind an anonymous Twitter/X profile and an anime avatar. If these men are truly committed to free expression, why aren’t they defending their access to rape and incest games using their real names and faces?
If these men are so dedicated to freedom of speech, why are they so quick to try to silence the voices of women (including rape survivors) who disagree?
“But women fantasise about rape”
One of our objections to No Mercy was that it portrays women as both deserving of rape and secretly desiring it, and that these beliefs put all women at risk. Here we see this very claim being used by men in defence of their access to rape simulation games. We’re forced to ask – who benefits from the notion that women want to be raped?
"What about OnlyFans?"
Again, the implication appears to be that if we haven't spoken out against a different form of exploitation or abuse, we are not permitted to criticise this one. Except that we have spent years exposing the harms of OnlyFans, and the various ways women are exploited on the platform. You can read more about our years of work calling out OnlyFans here.
"You didn't have a problem with Fifty Shades of Grey, though"
Except we did. We were part of a global coalition calling on individuals to boycott the film and donate the money they would have spent on tickets to a women's refuge - as that's where real-life Anastasias end up. Read more here and here.
“Getting rid of this game won't help women who are raped”
We would posit that men defending their access to a rape simulation game aren’t particularly qualified to weigh in on the interests of rape survivors, and what may or may not be helpful to them. (Their concern is touching, though).
Women and girls who have been raped or sexually assaulted might argue that media or games that treat rape as entertainment, or portray their trauma and abuse as a fun activity for men are not in their best interests.
A number survivors objected to this game and came forward in support of our campaign.
As someone who has gone through sexual abuse as a child at the hands of a family member, I find this game horrendous and dangerous and was sickened when I first read about it. It is heartbreaking that boys are learning to see sexual abuse and incest as just entertainment. It is triggering to all survivors. - Justine
There is such an embedded culture of misogynistic practices, abuse, belittling and toxicity in the male gaming community, that I am terrified what behaviour ‘games’ like No Mercy will produce … How dare anyone make an experience of being raped so diminished that they offer it as a leisure activity? – Rhea
As both a sexual assault survivor and female gamer, this makes me feel sick. Games like these only add to a growing problem and further isolate other female gamers. – Katrina
“So glorifying murder is okay”
More ‘whataboutery’, rather than engaging with any of our stated arguments or objections to this rape simulation game. The irrational claim that if we publicly object to rape – in response to a rape simulation game – we must support every other violent crime. That if our small team hasn’t had knowledge of or publicly condemned every other violent game, that we have no right to condemn this one. We reject this argument which is designed to prevent women from speaking out about media that promotes violence against us.
“You ignore real victims”
Besides being completely out of touch with reality (see 15 years of campaigning history, advocacy and lobbying against sexual exploitation, for greater protections for women and children, and to hold perpetrators accountable) this claim suggests that by condemning a game that encourages sexual violence against women for entertainment purposes, we are failing to challenge sexual violence against women in the world. We can actually do both! More than that, the promotion and glorification of men’s violence against women in media and popular culture is connected to real-world violence against women. We can’t meaningfully address men’s violence against women without challenging the drivers of it, including the attitudes of sexism and entitlement underpinning it.
This campaign was actively supported by “real victims” – women who are survivors of rape and sexual assault. They bravely spoke out on how this game negatively impacts them.
So who is it who is ignoring victims?
Responding to Zerat Games statement in defence of No Mercy
The developer of the rape simulation game – as in, the man with a financial interest in defending his rape and incest game – argued that the glorification of rape and violence against women in media has no bearing on real-world violence against women, and that “many studies” show such media decreases sexual crimes by half (a convenient stance for a rape game developer to take).
Apart from being completely illogical – that normalising, encouraging and practicing virtual violence against women reduces it – it is at odds with a large body of research literature, which includes experimental, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, finding violent video games are associated with aggression.
A number of recent meta-analyses (which review many studies) have found that violent video games are linked with increased aggression, in line with previous research. A 2022 meta-analysis found “a significant and meaningful positive effect of violent video games on subsequent physically aggressive behaviour”. A 2021 meta-analysis of 166 studies comprised of over 120,000 participants on the impacts of sexually violent media content concluded, “exposure to sexualized media content, especially in combination with violence, has negative effects on women, particularly on what people think about them and how aggressively they treat them.”
Zerat also points to all the supposedly “normal and healthy individuals” who happily played his rape game - as though the fact that many men are fine with simulating the rape of their fictional mother is evidence it is harmless, rather than evidence of deeply ingrained misogyny.
Zerat defends the incest and rape themes of the game as popular pornography genres and male sexual fetishes – as though that makes them acceptable. He argues these forms of violence and abuse of women and children are just fantasy. But while Zerat and the men and boys who purchased his game may have a sexual interest in incest or rape, or regard this abuse as an appealing scenario, these acts occur in a wider culture where such abuse is not a fantasy, but a reality for women and girls. These are men who believe their sexual preferences take precedence over women’s basic human rights.
Men who defend violence against women because it gives them an erection are not qualified to weigh in on what is and is not harmful to women and girls.
While misogynistic male gamers have certainly tried, there is no defence for an incest-themed rape simulation game for men and boys. On the plus side, many more people – 70,000 of you – signed our petition before we declared victory!
Stay tuned – this isn’t over. We want answers from Steam and their owner Valve as to how this rape game was permitted on their platform.
See also:
“F*ck your mom”: Rape + incest game available on 12+ gaming platform Steam
We did it! ‘No Mercy is no longer available on the Steam store’
@Steam: remove No Mercy rape + incest game globally NOW! - change.org
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