Banned 2025 Horror Game Makes A Comeback as a Physical Product
Does that make it a zombie game, even though it's not about zombies?
Censorship in video games is a pretty serious topic, and when things flared up a year ago, Vile: Exhumed was caught in the crossfire and banned from Steam for featuring “NSFW content.” The developer, wanting their story told anyway, released the game as freeware thereafter.
While the game features gore and other pretty intense themes, it was wrongfully banned for “sexual content with depictions of real people.” Once a game is banned from Steam, it’s not easy to get it back up.
Now, however, the game is making a comeback—as a limited physical edition.
Cara Cadaver, solo developer and owner of Final Girl Games, enjoyed the initial attention that Vile received. However, the ban stung.
“…it was hard seeing my creative vision, and such a personal story, just become a headline about censorship,” Cadaver said about the ban. “Working on the physical edition of VILE: Exhumed allowed me not only to revisit the feelings I had around the wrongful ban of the game last year, but also step back into Candy and Molly’s world, and give them one more moment.”
The timing on this couldn’t be any better, either, as we all still likely have Sony’s dedication to ending physical games media on its platforms fresh in our minds. Hence, this move helps to preserve not only the piece of art that is Vile: Exhumed, but also the presence of physical media.
Vile is a point-and-click horror game where you investigate a missing person’s fate by exploring an old computer from the 90s. Though it does deal with deep themes such as abuse and assault, so player discretion is advised.
If you have a thing for indie horror, or you’re already a fan of Vile: Exhumed, visit the website to sign up and get notified when it’s available for purchase. It’ll be delivered in CD format, enclosed in a classic jewel case, as though we’re back in the nineties. It goes for just under $10, too, which is incredibly reasonable.
And, to top it all off, half of all profits will be donated to Red Door Shelter, which aids families, refugees, and women who are fleeing violence.
