Qureate is a Japanese company specializing in non-explicit sexy games with humorous and sometimes ridiculous premises, like the upcoming soccer game Fantasista Asuka, where players’ jerseys disintegrate if their soccer moves have too much aura. While tightening regulations have made it more challenging to publish sexually suggestive games on commercial platforms, Qureate has continued to bring its games even to consoles, but it has inevitably faced some unusual requests for changes from platform holders.
Case in point, the Switch edition of Qureate’s hit hostess club dating sim Bunny Garden from 2024 had to swap out a character’s facial lotion with green-colored goop to avoid naughty associations. Presumably for similar reasons, a scene of a fully clothed character spilling milk on herself had to be revised so that the milk was invisible.
Adding to such curiosities, Qureate’s CEO and game producer Yuji Usuda recently talked to Game*Spark about what it’s like to put out sexy games amidst constantly changing regulations, and he mentioned that the reason why his company’s games tend to feature almost exclusively large-breasted characters is that depicting adult women with small chests has become “highly risky.” While the cast of Bunny Garden are adults and undeniably look the part, Usuda says introducing a flat-chested character would inevitably run the risk of being interpreted as child-like.
“People often see our games and go ‘Why is there nothing but busty characters?’ But there are some things we really can’t help. Honestly, we’d like to introduce a greater variety of characters, but if we took on risky depictions and ended up blocked from releasing the game at all, it would be pointless.”
Still, Qureate has a positive outlook on things. Although making adjustments to each version of a game increases the workload, Usuda says he’s much happier to receive requests for changes rather than being barred from releasing at all. “We were able to bring a bold game like Bunny Garden to users because each platform provider carefully guided us on how to make appropriate adjustments. I’m truly grateful that they’re working with us in a way that helps bring our work to the world,” he comments.
Bunny Garden’s sequel, Bunny Garden 2, is out now on PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch systems.
