Over the weekend, a deeply disturbing game titled “No Mercy” was released in the European Union.No Mercy claims to be an “adult simulator,” but it is really a rape simulator. It glorifies extreme sexual violence, incest, and the degradation of women. Players take the role of a man who rapes his mother, sisters, and aunts. The game respects no character and no boundary. Its objective is horrifying. Players must sexually assault every female character and take whatever they want without consent. The name “No Mercy” reflects that brutality.
Not the First Time: A Disturbing Pattern
Shockingly, this is not the first game of its kind. In 2019, Rape Day made headlines when Steam, a popular gaming platform, listed it. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where law and order collapse. Players harass, assault, and murder women with impunity.
Desk Plant, the developer of Rape Day, defended it as “dark comedy.” They said it targeted a niche audience that enjoys “morally aggressive stories” in fictional settings. “It’s just fiction,” they argued. “People are overreacting.”
The same dangerous logic is now being used to defend No Mercy. In this game, the player uses the premise of a family scandal—his mother’s affair that allegedly “ruins the family”—as justification to sexually dominate and enslave her. Victims can be gang raped. Players earn points for their conquests. The message is terrifyingly clear: take what you want, and show No Mercy.
Despite immediate public outrage, especially on social media, the game found popularity within NSFW and incest game communities. Petitions calling for its removal quickly gained traction.
Steam, which boasts over 130 million users as of April 10th, initially housed the game but eventually pulled it following the backlash. A small victory. But one that leaves behind uncomfortable questions.
The Global Epidemic of Underreported Sexual Violence
Globally, rape remains one of the most underreported crimes. The World Health Organization says 1 in 3 women worldwide has faced physical or sexual violence. That number barely shows the true scale.
Shame, stigma, fear of retaliation, and distrust in legal systems silence countless survivors. In some countries, people blame survivors, ostracize them, or even punish them for speaking out. The chilling truth is not just how often rape happens, but how quietly people endure it.
Games like No Mercy mock that trauma. They trivialize violence and normalize it. They push survivors further to the margins, while perpetrators hide behind digital anonymity and cultural indifference.
Dark Corners of the Internet: A 70,000-Strong Community of Predators
In 2024, a Telegram group was uncovered with over 70,000 members. A staggering number of mostly men used the encrypted platform to share rape videos and images. They traded explicit tips on how to drug, stalk, and assault women. The platform became a how-to manual for predators.
This wasn’t the dark web or some hidden corner of the internet. It sat in plain sight, enabled by technology and cloaked in group anonymity. Users acted with impunity, fueled by the belief that women’s bodies exist to be taken, not respected.
When No Mercy launched, certain online communities applauded it. The game tapped into the same sick ecosystem that celebrates pain and domination. These digital spaces don’t foster connection; they enable conquest and control. These aren’t isolated incidents. They reflect a global, systemic disease.
Rape Culture is Global And So Must Our Response Be
Families who silence their daughters give it room to grow. In courtrooms, it festers as victims relive trauma while perpetrators walk free. Music, jokes, and public talk that glorify dominance and dismiss consent keep it alive.
In Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and beyond, grassroots groups fight daily to create safe spaces. They push survivor-centered laws and demand education built on respect and equity. Yet violence still feels normal, woven into culture.
From whispers of “she asked for it” to ministers who dismiss rape as a nuisance, women’s safety remains sidelined in policy and protection.
Games like No Mercy don’t just offend. They remind us that the fight against gender violence isn’t over. If we fail to resist these digital reinforcements of rape culture, we risk raising boys who see cruelty as power and treat “No” as a dare.
More Than a Game: When Fiction Mirrors Reality
What’s perhaps even more disturbing than the game itself is the community of defenders who saw nothing wrong with it. Predictable comments followed: “It’s just a game, stop being so sensitive,” “It’s freedom of expression,” “If you don’t like it, don’t play it.” These are the same tired arguments used to defend everything from sexist jokes to online harassment. Excuses that fail to acknowledge how media shapes culture and normalizes behavior.
Let’s be truthful here, No Mercy is not just a game. It is a manifestation of violent misogyny. A digital fantasy constructed around the degradation and subjugation of women. It is a tool for those who derive pleasure from the idea of violating others, and it reinforces the dehumanization of women as mere objects for male gratification.
Unlike horror games or violent combat games, which operate within the bounds of mutual combat or survival, No Mercy has no moral ambiguity. The victims are not adversaries, they are targets. They are your family members. And they cannot fight back.
Defenders of these games miss the point—or choose to ignore it. This debate isn’t about offense. It’s about how media and entertainment normalize some of the most violent crimes imaginable.
Rape is not a plot device. It is not fantasy. It is one of the most violent, traumatic, and humiliating experiences a human being, particularly women, can endure.
It’s horrifying that in an era of global gender equality debates and rapid tech advancement, people still create and share content built on the abuse of women. The fact that such a game exists, gets hosted, and attracts an audience reveals something chilling. Misogyny isn’t hiding on the margins. It is moving into the mainstream, cloaked in the language of “freedom” and “fiction.”
A Call for Accountability, Not Censorship
Steam’s removal of No Mercy marks a step forward, but the fight is far from over. Game platforms must act proactively and take full responsibility for the content they host. The gaming community must also confront the toxic corners of its culture. We must continue to speak up. Not because we’re “sensitive,” but because silence in the face of such violence is complicity.
This isn’t just about a game. This is about the kind of society we are building, and the kinds of horrors we’re willing to entertain under the pretext of play.
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