In a recent FAQ spotted by Automaton, Housenka responded to a hypothetical of “I’ll promote you, give me a Steam key” with a delightfully blunt: “Buy it, you piece of garbage.” Or, as Automaton translates it from the original Japanese, “Buy the game, you piece of sh*t.” I can’t decide which I like better, honestly. The full FAQ is worth a read, if only for Housenka’s sense of humour and an insight into the absurd questions independent devs get asked these days.
“Make this character’s ass and thighs thicker,” another frequent-question-asker demands, to which Housenka responds: “Accept her as she is.” When asked by a phantom answer if the game will add sex, Housenka also proceeds to provide a link to DLsite, an online store that sells doujinshi—self-published manga comics that are often (though not always) pornographic in nature. “No sex. Please visit DLsite for that.”
to be fair, the free “review” keys often end up on websites like g2a and kinguin, so if I were to publish a game on Steam, I would’ve replied with the same thing to anyone asking me for 'em… the guy’s based af
It’s been a few years since Valve introduced curators system. Curators don’t receive keys but legit copies. Not all curators act in a good faith but it’s impossible for them to put such copies on sale on platforms you mentioned.