Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a quick update, since some of you may have noticed that my Patreon page is currently offline.
Patreon removed the page following a Trust & Safety review related to a post I made on January 4 about an interactive story scenario. I submitted an appeal and follow-up information to clarify the situation, but Patreon has ultimately decided not to reinstate the account.
To be clear: Bound by Night is still in active development, and nothing about the game itself has changed. The visual novel has been in development since 2021 and is built in Ren’Py using images I create myself in Daz Studio (not AI-generated). The Patreon page existed to support development progress, behind-the-scenes updates, and sneak peeks.
I’m currently exploring next steps for community support and development updates. Patreon indicated I may be able to apply again in the future after a waiting period, but it’s still unclear what that would look like in practice (for example, whether a future application could be for Bound by Night specifically, or would have to be structured around a different VN). I’ve asked for clarification and will share more once I know.
In the meantime, I don’t want anyone to feel like the project is on pause or that you’re being left in the dark. The next development update will be published directly to Itch.io at no cost to supporters, and I’ll continue posting updates through my usual channels as well.
Most of all: thank you. Your support has meant a lot to me, and it’s a big part of what’s kept this project moving forward. I’ll post another update soon once I’ve confirmed the best path forward.
Thank you again for sticking with me,
Snow
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Best of luck you can find a solution to this!
Fansly.com is another option.
Shop – PrideHosting Gaming without censorship maby ask to throw the game files onto hear
This is terrifying. To think a dev could lose a key source of income in the blink of an eye, with no recourse. I'm so sorry you're going through this. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. We keep a 'back-up' Patreon on SubscribeStar, but I'll admit it's not the best solution. There's no way to distribute Itch builds to backers except sending codes one at a time (that I know of). But I'd still do it if we had to.
Ah, that's too bad, but I'm glad to hear that you're going to continue the project!
Auch. Sorry to hear your patreon got removed. I know how it feels to get kicked for nonesense things. Especially when you've been on there for so long and they still immediately ban instead of suspend. That's really harsh!
Though to be fair... I'm sure you don't want to hear this... but including anything "user generative AI" in combination with "adult" wasn't the... 🤐
I'm sure your supporters are giving you 1000 and 1 potential solutions right now, but If you want to chat to a unbiased ear, hit me up.
Hey, thanks for the touchbase. You made me laugh and i kind of needed that. I'm not 100% convinced that's it, because I actually reached out to T&S about that two years ago when they were going after BDSM and furry artists. Although... maybe the fact that I did and the evolution of time means they just used the AI stuff as pretext to go back and revisit that decision. Entirely possible. But I guess also one of the reasons I am pissed. I never had a strike and actively reached out to them with questions in the past. Short version, whatever the reason, I think they're engaging in bad faith.
Anyway, thanks. I will try to reach out on the side. What's the best way to reach out? (I'm not on X/Twitter anymore.) Edit: Looks like you're on BlueSky. I'll DM you there as soon as I have time today but let me know if there is a better way to reach out.
Always here to support your great storytelling!
That whole situation makes no sense at all whatsoever. I hope you find an alternative with a truckful more sanity than Patreon seems to have.
I wouldn't say it makes no sense. AI- Chatbot style content is banned, other creators also got banned for it. I do think it would be better to suspend someone until they remove the problematic content and then reinstate them but what can you do. Subscribestar seems to have the more reasonable policies if you can get in.
Nymrod — that’s fair. If Patreon has been enforcing AI chatbot-style content this aggressively for a while, then that’s on me for not being aware of that enforcement pattern.
But what still bothers me (and why I think the situation genuinely doesn’t make sense) is that their enforcement is not consistent with the plain language of their own guideline.
The policy they cited says: “Accounts that primarily allow access to generators, tools, or software that use machine learning or AI technology to produce 18+ nudity or explicit imagery are not permitted…”
After I pushed for clarification, Patreon essentially admitted that “primarily” has no practical meaning because they consider a single post/link enough to trigger removal, even if it’s incidental and not the purpose of the page. That’s not what “primarily” means in plain English.
On top of that, they expanded the rationale beyond what the guideline actually says — applying it to “adult AI chatbot/sexbot” experiences even where the guideline is explicitly framed around image generation. So the written rule says one thing, but enforcement is treating it as a broader “adult AI interactive content” ban.
Creators should be able to rely on the plain language of the guidelines when deciding what is allowed. Patreon’s enforcement (in this case) didn’t match the written standard, and there was no proportional remediation path (remove the post, clarify rules as enforced rather than as written, then reinstate).
I agree that the way they enforce it is simply put, unfair. But it is what it is. Let's face it, BBN was on rented time in Patreon anyway what with all the werewolf dick:) I hope you find a better home to monetize the project elsewhere, fully aware of how much simpler Patreon is than the alternatives. Did you actually make it to Subscribestar?
I was on Subscribestar and they may let me reopen my account. I closed it beccause i never had more than 2 or 3 subscribers at a time and couldn't get a payout because of it.
Yeah, it is just not as easy to use as Patreon. But you could just ask your supporters on Discord to move there. It will always be at a loss of course which sucks but it is a revenue stream instead of getting nothing.
Goog luck. As world moves against erotica, it's time to look for alternatives to Patreon and Itch. Maybe creating own site?
That sucks, sorry to hear that! I'm glad you're still working on the game and I'm looking forward to updates as always. This is definitely one of the best VNs I've ever played!
I have no idea why people still use patreon. They went completely 180 once they dominated the market and betrayed every early adopter.
Aww.. hope things will go well in the near future :-( seriously, Patreon being unfair.. good luck, Snow!