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Censorship Brown Dust 2 to censor itself after Steam rejection, betrays promise to fans [UPDATE]

Thread Description
UPDATE (12-01-2026): They changed their minds
Ebicentre

Ebicentre

Cunnysouir
Regular
varishangout.com

Korean gacha game Brown Dust 2, famous for its highly erotic content, announced in their January 2026 Developer Notes they're going to censor characters, cutscenes and a slapping mini-game. (Archive)​


https://twitter.com/x/status/2009609056844239093


We wish to provide more stable service across various countries and platforms and we plan to renew certain costume cutscenes, interactions and minigames to create an environment where BrownDust2 can remain a beloved and sustainable game for a long time.
With the January 15 update, the appearance of the following costumes will be maintained, but skill cutscenes, Fated Guest, interactions and minigames will be temporarily unavailable. They will be gradually updated later with improved appearances and new animations that preserve each character's personality.

image_7413100720.png


*If any additional fixes are made beyond those listed above, we will inform you without delay.

* For these costumes, you will still be able to use the costumes themselves until the improvement update is applied. Only elements such as skill cutscenes and interactions will be hidden. As shown below, content including the costume appearance and related cutscenes is scheduled to be updated with new designs in the first half of the year.

BD_2_1_GLUPY_LIVE_105_P_3bf87913fa.jpg


For users negatively impacted or who wish to request a refund due to this cutscene and interaction revision, you will be able to apply for a currency refund.
If you request a refund, the corresponding costume will be retrieved, and the Draw Tickets used to obtain it will be returned to you.

Detailed announcements regarding Draw Ticket refunds will be provided separately once ready.

We promise that the revision of certain animations will not diminish your affection for the characters or costumes, and we will provide you with higher-quality animations and minigames.
We will continue to do our best to ensure BrownDust2 remains loved for many years to come.
Click to expand...

(Archive)


Predictably, the fans are revolting against the changes. They're citing the developers' own words that they would rather let Steam ban BD2 than betray the players. An empty promise, evidently. There's also no confirmation whether this will only affect the game's Steam release or if the official PC client will be affected, too. Whatever the decision, fans have universally decided they're no longer going to spend money on the game, if not outright quit playing altogether.
 
1768070391814.png

They updated the list and tried to explain their reasoning for the censorship. All I see is the devs being spineless cowards. Hell, Red Hood Rou was nowhere near as sexual as the skins that came after.
Hell, I can think of so many skins that fall under one of these reasons. Anyone remember that bunny skin with the electric shock? That could be seen as abusive.
 
This is South Korean companies in a nutshell.
1. Advertise you are against Censorship and you would rather die than to cater to Steam and the rest.
2. Steam tells you your content is against their platform
3. Ask what you can do to change your product to appear on their platform
4. Cave in and change everything
5. Say it was always meant to be this way from the start and was apart of the original vision to begin with.

They seem to have this pattern constantly or rearrange outfits that still look sexy but it's obvious in covering things up. My South Korean friend warns me of this all the time that they do this constantly, and when the game is about to fail they do not do anything, they just begin to quickly cash out and shut the game down regardless and repeat the process over again. Also China does the same exact thing except they have Fanservice, but in a few months or so they will update the game and censor the characters everyone paid into when users catch on.
 
Ronnie21093 said:
All I see is the devs being spineless cowards.
Click to expand...
They practically self-identify as spineless cowards. In the same developer note as the updated graph, Brown Dust II's project director, Jun-hee Lee, was credited for the following statement[1]:
1. Our decision regarding character design and cut-scene adjustments

It is true that we received external warnings requesting changes to certain in-game content.

However, how we responded was ultimately our decision, and we take full responsibility for the outcome.

We chose to comply because we were concerned that a service shutdown in one region could spread to other regions or platforms. The biggest issue, however, was that we made this decision without providing sufficient explanation or showing enough empathy.

Although there were various internal opinions and concerns raised, regardless of the process, full responsibility for the final decision lies entirely with the development team.
Click to expand...

Despite this statement, I still disagree with blaming the devs. As evident from "we received external warnings requesting changes to certain in-game content," the publisher and devs are complying with something external.

For instance, Steam banned Brown Dust II because it had content that was noncompliant under Valve's anti-fiction policies. After the game got banned, the publisher, Neowiz, and developer, GAMFS N, evidently got scared about having content that could suddenly be deemed noncompliant under Apple and Google's (and others') anti-fiction policies. For example, K Manga had to censor manga to comply with Apple and Google's policies since its launch.[2] (And here are 3 more examples of Apple and Google's anti-fiction policies being enforced: 1. Google, 2. Apple, 3. Google or Apple)

Additionally, there are anti-fiction laws that specifically criminalize loli & bishoujo (in regard to the English-speaking countries: Canada, Australia, UK excluding Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand's laws). Although, to my Wikipedia understanding, these anti-fiction laws apply only to explicit fictional pornography (of the eroge and H manga degree), which Brown Dust II isn't. Furthermore, the game has a PEGI 18 rating, so clearly it was legal throughout Europe. However, fearing the consequences of noncompliance creates excessive compliance.
(Note: Excessive compliance should never be defended. With excessive compliance, the company is self-restricting its fictional expressions without actually being forced by anti-fiction policies to restrict/censor. Hence the term excessive. Meanwhile, simple compliance is enforced, making it necessary.)

While the published 41st Developer Notes tried to blame the devs, the real problem is the anti-fiction policies (Steam, Apple, and Google's in this case) that restrict/censor fictional expressions. Under anti-fiction restrictions, compliance and censorship must become routine because noncompliance is punished.
 
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EgonChod said:
They practically self-identify as spineless cowards. In the same developer note as the updated graph, Brown Dust II's project director, Jun-hee Lee, was credited for the following statement[1]:


Despite this statement, I still disagree with blaming the devs. As evident from "we received external warnings requesting changes to certain in-game content," the publisher and devs are complying with something external.

For instance, Steam banned Brown Dust II because it had content that was noncompliant under Valve's anti-fiction policies. After the game got banned, the publisher, Neowiz, and developer, GAMFS N, evidently got scared about having content that could suddenly be deemed noncompliant under Apple and Google's (and others') anti-fiction policies. For example, K Manga had to censor manga to comply with Apple and Google's policies since its launch.[2] (And here are 3 more examples of Apple and Google's anti-fiction policies being enforced: 1. Google, 2. Apple, 3. Google or Apple)

Additionally, there are anti-fiction laws that specifically criminalize loli & bishoujo (in regard to the English-speaking countries: Canada, Australia, UK excluding Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand's laws). Although, to my Wikipedia understanding, these anti-fiction laws apply only to explicit fictional pornography (of the eroge and H manga degree), which Brown Dust II isn't. Furthermore, the game has a PEGI 18 rating, so clearly it was legal throughout Europe. However, fearing the consequences of noncompliance creates excessive compliance.
(Note: Excessive compliance should never be defended. With excessive compliance, the company is self-restricting its fictional expressions without actually being forced by anti-fiction policies to restrict/censor. Hence the term excessive. Meanwhile, simple compliance is enforced, making it necessary.)

While the published 41st Developer Notes tried to blame the devs, the real problem is the anti-fiction policies (Steam, Apple, and Google's in this case) that restrict/censor fictional expressions. Under anti-fiction restrictions, compliance and censorship must become routine because noncompliance is punished.
Click to expand...
I think the opposite, we need to blame the devs to the point of bankruptcy until they reverse the changes or expose who's pressuring them. It's the only way to make a change.

In any case, people need to stop playing these digital casino simulators.
 
EgonChod said:
They practically self-identify as spineless cowards. In the same developer note as the updated graph, Brown Dust II's project director, Jun-hee Lee, was credited for the following statement[1]:


Despite this statement, I still disagree with blaming the devs. As evident from "we received external warnings requesting changes to certain in-game content," the publisher and devs are complying with something external.

For instance, Steam banned Brown Dust II because it had content that was noncompliant under Valve's anti-fiction policies. After the game got banned, the publisher, Neowiz, and developer, GAMFS N, evidently got scared about having content that could suddenly be deemed noncompliant under Apple and Google's (and others') anti-fiction policies. For example, K Manga had to censor manga to comply with Apple and Google's policies since its launch.[2] (And here are 3 more examples of Apple and Google's anti-fiction policies being enforced: 1. Google, 2. Apple, 3. Google or Apple)

Additionally, there are anti-fiction laws that specifically criminalize loli & bishoujo (in regard to the English-speaking countries: Canada, Australia, UK excluding Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand's laws). Although, to my Wikipedia understanding, these anti-fiction laws apply only to explicit fictional pornography (of the eroge and H manga degree), which Brown Dust II isn't. Furthermore, the game has a PEGI 18 rating, so clearly it was legal throughout Europe. However, fearing the consequences of noncompliance creates excessive compliance.
(Note: Excessive compliance should never be defended. With excessive compliance, the company is self-restricting its fictional expressions without actually being forced by anti-fiction policies to restrict/censor. Hence the term excessive. Meanwhile, simple compliance is enforced, making it necessary.)

While the published 41st Developer Notes tried to blame the devs, the real problem is the anti-fiction policies (Steam, Apple, and Google's in this case) that restrict/censor fictional expressions. Under anti-fiction restrictions, compliance and censorship must become routine because noncompliance is punished.
Click to expand...
I think it comes down to this. I agree Steam needs to be blamed alongside Credit Cards for even demanding censorship, but I also think Devs need to be blamed as well because if they were honest, they would have implemented the changes for the Steam Version and kept true to the ones that did not demand censorship like the Launcher on PC and the rest of the platforms.
 
JX475 said:
I think it comes down to this. I agree Steam needs to be blamed alongside Credit Cards for even demanding censorship, but I also think Devs need to be blamed as well because if they were honest, they would have implemented the changes for the Steam Version and kept true to the ones that did not demand censorship like the Launcher on PC and the rest of the platforms.
Click to expand...
The PC Launcher version goes exclusively through Apple and Google's services. BrownDust2 Official PC client Release notice:
Run the downloaded installation file (BD2StarterSetup.exe) 2-1. After installing the game from the launched launcher, the client automatically runs (when first installed) 2-2. Launch the client via installed shortcut (after initial installation)
Log in with the Google or Apple account linked to Brown Dust 2 and use the game. ※ PC client does not support guest account login.
Available after linking your account with Google or Apple.
※ For security reasons, payment functions are not supported. Please use the payment function in a mobile environment.
Click to expand...
I would completely agree with you if Brown Dust II had any independence outside of the anti-fiction Apple and Google. Under my analysis, I spoke out against what I called "excessive compliance." I believe Brown Dust II was censored to comply with others' anti-fiction policies, but perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps Brown Dust II's censorship was the result of excessive compliance, and so the devs/publisher censored beyond what/where they were forced to. However, with my own uncertainties as well as Brown Dust II not being on unrestricted platforms/services, GAMFS N's and Neowiz's current censorship must stem from compliance to Google, Apple, and Steam's anti-fiction restrictions.
 
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The fanbase won. (Archive)

The BD2 team announced they had changed their minds on censoring the characters. Full quote below.


“After thinking deeply about this again over the weekend, I’ve come to a conclusion, and I’d like to share it with you.

Regarding this situation, there will be no design changes made to any characters or any costumes that were discussed.
All previously mentioned characters — including Terezelle Xtear — will be kept exactly as they are now, and no content, including SlapSlapTap, will be removed.

This decision is not temporary or provisional.
It is the final policy that will be maintained throughout the entire service period of Brown Dust 2.”

“This is the original version of the Prestige skin, and I’d like to address this as well.

Judging content should ultimately be a matter of personal choice.
It was not the right decision for the development team to be the ones to first suggest a purchasable, collectible Prestige skin. I think I lacked the courage to stand firm on this.

The Liberta Prestige Skin will also be released in the original version as it was initially planned.
The final choice and judgment will be left entirely up to you.

*It will be available for four weeks after the January 15 update, and as an apology for this matter, it will be provided for free to everyone.”*

“In Lanad’s case as well, we had previously announced a toned-down version. What you’re seeing on the screen now is the original, and it will be released exactly as is.

Many of you were most worried about things like: what exactly is the standard for revisions? and who will be targeted next?
To be honest, the warning criteria from the external organization were so vague that they were difficult to clearly define even internally. And in that process, my use of the ambiguous expression ‘clearly an adult’ only ended up increasing your anxiety and distrust.

This was entirely a misjudgment on my part, and I take full responsibility for it.”

“…Because everything is done based on approvals from rating boards, we judged that if service were to be suspended in even a single country, it would very likely trigger a chain reaction of reports to other national authorities and lead to additional reviews.

At present, monitoring intensity and censorship standards for content are being broadly tightened worldwide, and Brown Dust 2 has been under continuous scrutiny from multiple organizations.”

“Because we believed that service suspensions could happen again, we concluded that simply separating a single country would not be a fundamental solution.

To be completely honest, I felt a strong sense of crisis and fear that if successive service suspensions were to continue, it could become difficult to maintain normal operation of Brown Dust 2 going forward.

For the countries where issues have been raised, we are currently discussing with the relevant authorities measures such as limiting content visibility only within those service regions, implementing service suspensions there, or operating separate modified builds.”

“As soon as these consultations are finalized, we will make an official announcement immediately.

Our goal is to comply with the laws of each country while also protecting both creative freedom and the rights of those who enjoy our content.

From now on, we will follow a single principle: regionalized service provision instead of content modification.
If we again encounter a situation where normal service is impossible without modifying content due to regulations in a specific country or platform, we will not choose to alter character designs. Instead, we will separate policies by region — through measures such as region-limited promotion processing, service termination in that region, or operating separate modified builds.

Even if this causes inconvenience, we will not make choices that undermine the rights and experience of those who are enjoying the original content.
Therefore, even if providing the original build through stores becomes difficult, we will proactively review and prepare alternative methods so that many of you can continue to enjoy the original version.”

“We are currently in discussions with the relevant authorities to ensure smooth service operation, so we believe there is still a possibility that some of our answers may be inaccurate. We ask for your understanding regarding this.

After this broadcast, please post any questions related to it through the Q&A link in the community or the developer notes. We will collect and organize them, and I will respond to each one individually.

I believe I am not someone who should be asking you for understanding — I am someone who should be protecting the characters you enjoy from external interference. No matter the reason, the designs of the characters we love should never have been altered. I failed to properly consider how heavy and serious the idea of adjusting character design levels — in other words, censorship — would feel to you.

Conveying such an important matter through a hastily prepared text announcement was clearly my fault, and it was a very foolish action. It shook the trust we had built through illustrations in an instant and left doubt over every future release, making people wonder whether it too had been censored. I consider this my most painful mistake.

The person who ultimately decides the service policy for Brown Dust 2 is me. There is no hidden force above me, nor any external authority giving orders. I sincerely apologize for the confusion and disappointment this incident has caused, and I will strive to make choices that I will not be ashamed of before you in the future.

I’m sorry, and thank you.”


Summary:

  • No design changes or content removal
  • 'This decision is not temporary or provisional. It is the final policy that will be maintained throughout the entire service period of Brown Dust 2.'
  • The Liberta Prestige Skin will be given unaltered to all players for free as an apology (only available for four weeks after Jan. 15th)
  • 'External organizations' were issuing vague warnings about BD2's content; they were worried if one country banned BD2, the rest would follow suit
  • 'From now on, we will follow a single principle: regionalized service provision instead of content modification.'
  • They'll look into alternatives to allow access to the original game
  • '[The announcement] shook the trust we had built through illustrations in an instant and left doubt over every future release, making people wonder whether it too had been censored. I consider this my most painful mistake.'
 
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Ebicentre said:
Full quote below.


“After thinking deeply about this again over the weekend, I’ve come to a conclusion, and I’d like to share it with you.

Regarding this situation, there will be no design changes made to any characters or any costumes that were discussed.
All previously mentioned characters — including Terezelle Xtear — will be kept exactly as they are now, and no content, including SlapSlapTap, will be removed.

This decision is not temporary or provisional.
It is the final policy that will be maintained throughout the entire service period of Brown Dust 2.”

“This is the original version of the Prestige skin, and I’d like to address this as well.

Judging content should ultimately be a matter of personal choice.
It was not the right decision for the development team to be the ones to first suggest a purchasable, collectible Prestige skin. I think I lacked the courage to stand firm on this.

The Liberta Prestige Skin will also be released in the original version as it was initially planned.
The final choice and judgment will be left entirely up to you.

*It will be available for four weeks after the January 15 update, and as an apology for this matter, it will be provided for free to everyone.”*

“In Lanad’s case as well, we had previously announced a toned-down version. What you’re seeing on the screen now is the original, and it will be released exactly as is.

Many of you were most worried about things like: what exactly is the standard for revisions? and who will be targeted next?
To be honest, the warning criteria from the external organization were so vague that they were difficult to clearly define even internally. And in that process, my use of the ambiguous expression ‘clearly an adult’ only ended up increasing your anxiety and distrust.

This was entirely a misjudgment on my part, and I take full responsibility for it.”

“…Because everything is done based on approvals from rating boards, we judged that if service were to be suspended in even a single country, it would very likely trigger a chain reaction of reports to other national authorities and lead to additional reviews.

At present, monitoring intensity and censorship standards for content are being broadly tightened worldwide, and Brown Dust 2 has been under continuous scrutiny from multiple organizations.”

“Because we believed that service suspensions could happen again, we concluded that simply separating a single country would not be a fundamental solution.

To be completely honest, I felt a strong sense of crisis and fear that if successive service suspensions were to continue, it could become difficult to maintain normal operation of Brown Dust 2 going forward.

For the countries where issues have been raised, we are currently discussing with the relevant authorities measures such as limiting content visibility only within those service regions, implementing service suspensions there, or operating separate modified builds.”

“As soon as these consultations are finalized, we will make an official announcement immediately.

Our goal is to comply with the laws of each country while also protecting both creative freedom and the rights of those who enjoy our content.

From now on, we will follow a single principle: regionalized service provision instead of content modification.
If we again encounter a situation where normal service is impossible without modifying content due to regulations in a specific country or platform, we will not choose to alter character designs. Instead, we will separate policies by region — through measures such as region-limited promotion processing, service termination in that region, or operating separate modified builds.

Even if this causes inconvenience, we will not make choices that undermine the rights and experience of those who are enjoying the original content.
Therefore, even if providing the original build through stores becomes difficult, we will proactively review and prepare alternative methods so that many of you can continue to enjoy the original version.”

“We are currently in discussions with the relevant authorities to ensure smooth service operation, so we believe there is still a possibility that some of our answers may be inaccurate. We ask for your understanding regarding this.

After this broadcast, please post any questions related to it through the Q&A link in the community or the developer notes. We will collect and organize them, and I will respond to each one individually.

I believe I am not someone who should be asking you for understanding — I am someone who should be protecting the characters you enjoy from external interference. No matter the reason, the designs of the characters we love should never have been altered. I failed to properly consider how heavy and serious the idea of adjusting character design levels — in other words, censorship — would feel to you.

Conveying such an important matter through a hastily prepared text announcement was clearly my fault, and it was a very foolish action. It shook the trust we had built through illustrations in an instant and left doubt over every future release, making people wonder whether it too had been censored. I consider this my most painful mistake.

The person who ultimately decides the service policy for Brown Dust 2 is me. There is no hidden force above me, nor any external authority giving orders. I sincerely apologize for the confusion and disappointment this incident has caused, and I will strive to make choices that I will not be ashamed of before you in the future.

I’m sorry, and thank you.”
Click to expand...

The situation has changed. This is great news. However, I must now update my analysis.

Rather than having been explicitly forced to censor or knowing exactly that Brown Dust II wasn't complying with their current platform holders' anti-fiction censorship, the devs were excessively complying with their interpretations of anti-fiction policies (that stem from undisclosed sources) to avoid being banned.

I hate that the new statement is still incredibly vague about what and who exactly the "external organization" was. For example, quoting from the translated statement:
To be honest, the warning criteria from the external organization were so vague that they were difficult to clearly define even internally.
Click to expand...
At present, monitoring intensity and censorship standards for content are being broadly tightened worldwide, and Brown Dust 2 has been under continuous scrutiny from multiple organizations.
Click to expand...
The devs or publisher should explicitly mention the external organizations by name as well as the criteria given.

Based on the rest of the new statement as well as the timeline of events, it seems like project director Jun-hee Lee panicked after Brown Dust II got banned for noncompliance under Steam's anti-fiction policies. He preemptively and excessively censored to avoid another ban (specifically a ban by certain countries, as could be determined during discussions with their "relevant authorities"), which Jun-hee Lee thought could lead to a domino effect/"chain reaction" of rating boards censoring Brown Dust II.

[A similar kind of domino effect happened with PQube's translation of Omega Labyrinth Z after the UK's Video Standards Council (now Games Rating Authority) banned it in 2018.[1] The game additionally got banned in Ireland, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. Ultimately, Sony responded by banning PQube's release of Omega Labyrinth Z in all regions, despite the game's ESRB and PEGI approval.[2] Following this, Sony created their post-2018 global censorship policy.[3]]

At this point, I wonder how many companies had already excessively complied in response to anti-fiction censorship with their own additional self-restrictions/self-censorship. The demand definitely must be for publishers/developers to fight for and pursue ways to release their fiction with unrestricted content. For example, Marvelous always had the choice to publish Senran Kagura 7even for unrestricted platforms, but they chose to comply with Sony's anti-fiction policies by abandoning development.
 
Welp, I was gonna say they can't be trusted, but IF they keep releasing lolis and content like the ones showed on the livestream
lmao.jpg
players can rest assured that nothing is being stealthily toned down.
 
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I would be very suspicious. Even if they do roll it back, they will just go to a lower level of censorship and cover things up as a whole. Time will tell.
 
Ronnie21093 said:
Vietnam seems to be more of an issue with one of their latest laws requiring a "local presence" or heavy taxes from what I've found.
Germany though? Yeah that government is 100% being cucks.
Click to expand...
Can agree Germany, U.K seems to have issue even Australia. I feel bad because it's just bizarre to see them get upset over it.
 
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