Steam Delayed Spanking Exorcist—Its Developer Made Players Spank Him Instead

Steam’s permissive-store reputation has never meant every unusual game receives a frictionless release. Spanking Exorcist turned that gap between policy and approval into a very literal joke: its developer released a tiny free game that lets players punish his cartoon avatar with a button press while the main game remained stuck in review.

Solo developer Actor had planned to launch the comedy-horror game on July 24, but Steam’s review was not complete in time. The developer said discussion over whether parts of the game were too sexual had been running for roughly a month. That scrutiny is unsurprising given the premise: players control exorcist Ioto Shirihataki, who clears the Peach Butt Housing Complex by spanking spirits, while avoiding ghosts less receptive to his unconventional method.

Rather than issue a standard delay notice, Actor published A Game Where You Can Spank Actor, a free Windows download distributed through a link on X. It is deliberately slight: an apology screen, a cartoon butt, a flashing “Spank that butt!” button, a slap sound, and a link back to the delayed Steam page. Actor framed it as a token of remorse and said players were welcome to enjoy it.

The stunt did more than extend the game’s absurd tone. A storefront-review delay can disrupt a small developer’s launch discount, wishlist momentum, social posts, and press coverage even if the game is ultimately approved. By making himself — not Steam or waiting players — the punchline, Actor kept attention on the game without escalating the dispute into a broader public fight.

Spanking Exorcist passed review and launched on Steam on July 30, six days after its target date. It is priced at $5.99, with a 10% launch discount reducing it to $5.39. The episode does not solve the larger problem of unclear moderation boundaries around sexual or fetish-coded material, but it is a sharp example of release management: Steam’s delay became part of the marketing, not the entire story.

Watch whether Actor’s game receives any further storefront changes; for now, the verdict is simple: the apology gag was a smart recovery, while the approval uncertainty that prompted it remains the real concern for indie creators.