Update (11/10/22) – Chaos; Head Noah has now been uncanceled from Steam and is now available on the platform. Steam says that they are changing their review process to make sure that situations like these do not happen in the future.
Original article:
The visual novel Chaos; Head Noah will no longer be coming to Steam as it was initially scheduled to in early October. The reason given for this was that “Steam’s guideline-required changes to the game’s content”.
The Nintendo Switch version of the game will still be released on the initial launch date of October 7th.
Publisher Spike Chunsoft says that they are looking into alternative storefronts to launch the title on PC and will update fans with more details later.
Chaos; Head Noah is an enhanced port of the original Chaos; Head was released for PCs in Japan in 2008. The game is the first entry in the ‘Science Adventure’ series alongside Steins; Gate and Robotics; Notes and takes place in the same universe as those titles. This version of the game will be the first time that it has been officially localized into English.
While Steins; Gate revolves around theoretical time travel, and Robotics; Notes covers robots and AR technology, the Chaos; Head sub-series revolves around psychology. The main character of the game is Nishijou Takumi, a shut-in otaku who frequently experiences vivid hallucinations. He later becomes involved with a series of serial killings called the “New Gen” Murders.
While it has no explicit content, Chaos; Head does contain heavy fanservice and heavy violence which could have caused issues with Steam’s guidelines, although nothing has been confirmed.
The game will be released on the Switch as part of a double pack alongside its direct sequel Chaos; Child. This game was originally released in Japan for the Xbox One in 2014 before being ported and localized for international audiences on the PS4 and PS Vita in 2017. Chaos; Child is already available on Steam.
The Chaos; Head/Chaos; Child Double Pack will be released for Nintendo Switch on the 7th of October 2022. The PC version of Chaos; Head will likely be released at some point in the near future.