According to the game memorandum, V Society has allegedly reviewed the content of its steam platform at the request of the Russian Government. According to the report, Roskomnadzor, a Russian media reviewer, requested that the game be mounted on the grounds that the card game Flickr Solitaire contained LGBTQ+ content.
The Agency issued an official circular to Flickr Gomes, the developer of Flickr Solitaire, requesting the removal of the project from App Store, Google Play and Steam, stating that the card group containing LGBTQ+ art designs violated the provisions of the 2006 federal law “prohibiting non-traditional sexual relations”. The game memo reported that the Russian request confused LGBTQ+ content with paedophilia. Although all three platforms were notified, Apple and Google allegedly failed to respond to the requirements of the lower shelf and only V made a compromise to lower the game in the Russian section of Steam. V also attributed responsibility to Flickr Gomes for alleged violations of Platform rules. Steam requires that all games must comply with the laws and regulations of the issuing country. “In accordance with the Steam Distribution Agreement, your company promised Valve that the game would comply with all applicable laws.” Flickr Solitaire is a hand-drawn-style card game that brings together a variety of games, such as accelerator, pyramid and spider. At the earliest, in 2020, he was on board with App Store and Google Play in Russia, but did not attract the attention of the Russian authorities until he landed at Steam in October 2025.
According to developers, Russia is the second largest player in the game. Ian Masters, founder of Flickr Gomes, stressed that protecting LGBTQ+ content for enterprises such as V is “critical”. “This is not about `awareism’, it is about human rights and equality. If Steam cannot support the freedom of expression of the LGBT+ group, it should at least be transparent.” This is not the first time V Society has been controversial about the content-checking strategy. In 2018, the company had announced that it would allow any content to be placed on Steam, “except for what we have identified as illegal or purely provocative”. At the beginning of this year, when Zerat Games was allowed to fight the adult game “No Mercy” that contained “compulsory involuntary sex”, the V Society had provoked strong protests from the British Government, which eventually left the game to the developers. In 2023, the V Society was criticized for the opposite. – Rejecting the Italian developer Santa Rajione’s terrorist game, Horses, on the grounds of content concerns, which the studio said could lead to bankruptcy.
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