Controversial Game Reenters Steam Market Amid Developer Backlash: Explore the Intriguing Debate

Josh Taylor

The infamously controversial game franchise Postal has had its third entry make an unexpected return to Steam. Postal 3 was previously abandoned by its developers and removed by Valve.

Steam has had its fair share of games removed by Valve for various reasons over the years from small indie games to big-budget titles. Once they are removed by the PC gaming giant, games rarely appear on Steam again.

The game franchise Postal has been widely known as the “most controversial” on the leading gaming platform, which over time has had many of its iterations removed.

Now Postal 3, which was famously disowned and condemned by the series’ creators, has made a bizarre return to Steam after its initial removal from Valve due to “DRM issues” at the end of November 2022.

Controversial Steam game makes bizarre return

Developers Running With Scissors announced: “Despite being a dark chapter in the series, people should still be able to check the game out if they want. We did what we could to make it happen.

“Featuring 100% less DRM (and a couple less crashes) for new and existing customers, Postal 3 is now back on Steam.”

How about something scary for Friday the 13th?

Months ago, Valve removed Postal III due to issues with DRM. Despite being a dark chapter in the series, people should still be able to check the game out if they want. We did what we could to make it happen.

Featuring 100% less… pic.twitter.com/ZKjPuhJNTx

— Running With Scissors (@RWSstudios) October 13, 2023

The controversial FPS was hit with the same criticisms as the previous titles in the series when it was originally launched on Steam in 2011. Aside from it being a bug-filled game with many players reporting crashes, it was also slated for being “gory,” “vulgar,” “cringey,” and even regarded as the “worst in the series.”

Fans were left outraged, leading to the outsourced development team on the third entry abandoning it entirely. Now that a fourth Postal game has come and gone, the third entry returning to Steam after such a long time is certainly a surprise.

Postal 3 has not been the only game that was abandoned by its developers. Only Up was removed from Steam by their creators in September due to “stress.”