Nighthawks gets Steam Adults Only label just before release on September 22, 2026

• Kotaku reported on September 15, 2026 that Steam was treating the game as Adults Only, hurting its discoverability on the platform and making it appear hidden in some countries.
• Dave Gilbert said Wadjet Eye Games was working on a fix; later reporting from Eurogamer said Valve had reversed the classification before launch.

What happened

Kotaku reported on September 15, 2026 that Nighthawks ran into a Steam classification issue shortly before its planned release. According to that report, the game was being treated as Adults Only, which affected its visibility in search results. The same piece also said the title seemed to be hidden in some countries, although based on the provided sources it remains unclear whether that was a true delisting or another regional restriction within Steam.

Dave Gilbert said in response that Wadjet Eye Games was working to resolve the issue. That confirms the studio was actively responding, but not exactly how Steam had applied the classification internally or which part of the game triggered the flag. The sources do note that the game includes adult themes, including textual sex scenes and limited nudity, but they do not say that this was the direct cause of the classification.

The planned release date in the sources is September 22, 2026. Wadjet Eye Games announced that date on September 2, 2026, and RPG Site later also confirmed a PC release via Steam and GOG on that day. Eurogamer then reported that Valve had removed the Adults Only classification before launch, but the provided sources do not independently confirm whether the game actually released on September 22, 2026.

Kotaku also framed the issue alongside earlier Steam problems involving indie games, including Future? No Thanks! and Horses. In that sense, Nighthawks fits a familiar pattern in which a storefront classification can directly affect a game’s visibility on Steam.

Background

Nighthawks is a narrative vampire RPG from Wadjet Eye Games. The game was funded via Kickstarter in 2018 and, according to the provided sources, had long been planned for a PC release on Steam and GOG. The studio set the release date to September 22, 2026 on September 2, 2026, meaning the launch was already officially locked in before the Steam issue surfaced.

RPG Site described Nighthawks as a PC game for Windows, macOS, and Linux, while the developers told Eurogamer that the title is not pornography despite its adult themes, textual sex scenes, and limited nudity. That detail matters because it shows why the studio viewed the Adults Only label as incorrect, even though the sources do not explain exactly which content or metadata triggered the flag.

The available reporting also makes clear that the problem was mainly about discoverability and regional visibility on Steam. Kotaku said the classification affected search results and made the game invisible in some countries, while Eurogamer later wrote that Valve had reversed the classification. The sources do not say whether that correction applied worldwide or whether any regional differences remained.

Sources

• Kotaku, September 15, 2026: report on Nighthawks’ Steam classification and Dave Gilbert’s response.
• Eurogamer, September 2026: report that Valve had reversed the Adults Only classification before launch.
• Wadjet Eye Games, September 2, 2026: announcement that Nighthawks will release on September 22, 2026.
• RPG Site: release report on Nighthawks and the planned PC launch on September 22, 2026.