It is possible that Steam no longer allows adult games in early access
Steam has ceased to allow adult games to be released in early access, claims the studio Dammitbird. The studio encountered this restriction when attempting to release their game Heavy Hearts.
Heavy Hearts
Dammitbird shared on social media a screenshot of the release denial message received from the Steam team. It stated that Heavy Hearts did not pass moderation because the store can "no longer support the early access model for games with adult content." Steam advised the developers to release the project later, when it is ready for a full release.
The reason for this rule change on Steam is not mentioned in Dammitbird's screenshot. Online, there is speculation that this is a further consequence of actions by the Australian organization Collective Shout. Previously, they approached major payment systems like Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal, urging them to pressure Steam and itch.io to ban games covering certain socially taboo topics. Consequently, these platforms were indeed forced to remove or hide hundreds of titles from search results.
Valve has not publicly commented on the early access situation on Steam.