this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2026
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Google has removed popular psychological horror game Doki Doki Literature Club! from the Play Store. According to Dan Salvato, who led its development team, and publisher Serenity Forge, Google told them the visual novel was removed because it violated its Terms of Service in its depiction of sensitive themes. The game is “widely celebrated for portraying mental health in a way that meaningfully connects deeply with players around the world,” they said in their announcement. Its free version, which came out first, has been downloaded at least 30 million times, while the paid “Plus” version has had at least one million downloads. The visual novel has repeatedly made Engadget’s lists of favorite games over the years.

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[–] GasMaskedLunatic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 46 minutes ago (1 children)

I've seen shit on X far worse than the shit in Doki Doki in literally every way possible. Why is their app still available for download? Fuck you, Google.

[–] Retail4068@lemmy.world -1 points 29 minutes ago (1 children)

X == Google. Definitely how it works.

[–] Yttra@lemmy.world 1 points 23 minutes ago (1 children)

The very same app that almost got removed from Google Play (and Apple's App Store) for ToS violations such as planning to disable account blocking functionality?

Yes, that is indeed how it works.

[–] Retail4068@lemmy.world 1 points 11 minutes ago

Might as well as ban the Internet if you're going to try to transitive your way through it. Good Lord 🤣👌👍

[–] HuudaHarkiten@piefed.social 10 points 57 minutes ago

Ah, I love how google is protecting me and my fragile mind <3

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 minutes ago

I wonder if FEX (Valve's X86 to ARM conversion software) could run this now on an android phone. The game's freely distributed on PC, so it should be easy to test.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 minutes ago

because it violated its Terms of Service in its depiction of sensitive themes.

This rule can't be legal for a gatekeeper.

So it begins