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MindGeek, the adult entertainment giant, is best known for its parent company Brazzers and Pornhub. However, over the past five years, Nutaku has been focusing on the creation and promotion of one of its most niche ventures, Nutaku. This platform is dedicated to the distribution and development of hentai-themed games.
Nutaku's most popular hentai games include King of Kinks. This RPG lets players create a group of (at best) scantily dressed fantasy heroines and then "stumble across inhuman beauties, ready for you to suck." Booty Farm is a dating sim site that promises to "get XXXX very quickly." Merge Nymphs is a puzzle game that rewards successful completion with sexual tableaus featuring cartoon females. The game is both eco-friendly as well as dick-friendly.
MindGeeks has supported Nutaku since its 2015 launch. They have invested millions in hentai gaming development and organized many extravagant marketing gimmicks such as a New York art exhibition called Hentai Is Art to help build the brand. This was done to make Western consumers more familiar with cartoon sex, which is long associated with Japan's porn world. It has also included avatars of Pornhub's most famous performers in its largest games. This clearly connects the venture to the larger MindGeek ecosystem and all the eyes and clout that it brings. During her appearance on the dating sim Booty Calls, Asa Akira's cartoonized version of porn star Asa wears a Pornhub-branded tanktop.
Advertisements for Nutaku (or games it offers) are now a regular fixture on MindGeek sites and many other adult venues. It hosts "over 500 lewd videos!" Every few days, announcements about new Nutaku titles and initiatives are published in adult industry trade magazines.
Geoffrey Celen, of The Porn Dude, an influential review site that ranks adult gambling platforms, stated that "It is readily evident that a ton has gone into this platform."
Nutaku claims MindGeek invested in it because MindGeek wants to tap into a large, underserved market of hentai gaming. However, a lot of observers and insiders in the adult entertainment industry, as well as information security specialists, believe there is another reason. This could be due to the staggering amount of user data companies can potentially extract from porn games. While data is far more valuable than cash in the bank, it is still extremely concerning for modern digital consumers.
MindGeek probably needed a compelling reason, other than the mere possibility of a market, to invest so much effort in Nutaku's development and visibility. The platform is a serious threat to the company's larger endeavors. Over the past decade, the conglomerate has spent considerable effort trying to gain mainstream cultural acceptance and social respectability. MindGeeks core Western consumers have a negative perception of hentai gaming.
They are often associated with immature and stilted writing, disconcerting graphics, sexual assault, implicit or explicit underage sex, and rampant misogyny. These images all too often appear in hentai content. Hentai games have a history of disappointment and deception. For example, they advertise the hottest content but deliver a half-assed clone of Call of Duty. A collection of sex-mini-games that only involve button-mashing, stiff, repetitive thrusts or moans. Many hentai-related games, at least since the 1980s, have been nothing more than trojan horses for computer viruses or credential phishing scams.
Michelle Clough, chairwoman of the International Game Developers Associations Romance and Sexuality Special Interest Group, stated that there is a stigma against porn games from those who enjoy traditional porn.
Hentai's history is so bad, that many popular gaming platforms refuse to allow porn games to be carried. In official statements, even Nutaku has repeatedly and openly acknowledged the porn's ingrained image problem and the difficulties of working against it.
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for big decisions like MindGeek's bold bet on Nutaku. This is due in large part to multiple motivating forces working in parallel. MindGeek may be able to overcome some reputational risks due to the attractiveness of the hentai game's user data.
MindGeek has included numerous permissions for data collection in Nutaku's privacy policies. Nutaku has the right to collect any information a user uses on the site or app. It can also share that information with MindGeek sites to "customize content, advertising and analytics" and transmit aggregated data to anyone, "without restriction." This policy states that data may be used to create content and services we hope you, and others, will enjoy.
It's the (Adult Economy), Stupid
Jay Acevedo, Nutaku communications manager, avoided answering direct questions about the potential appeal to MindGeek of data derived from hentai games.
MindGeek launched Nutaku, he claimed, because of the "massive consumer demand" for adult games in West. He said that the Nutaku team also saw signs of cultural change that could indicate an erosion of stigmas surrounding fusing adult content with gaming, which made it difficult to serve this market in past.
Acevedo appeared confident that Acevedo and his team could "do all the necessary pushes" to break the stigma, but he also acknowledged that there is still much to be done.
Video game and adult industry experts agree that there is a reason for this.
Matthew Wysocki is a professor at Flagler University in Florida who studies porn and games. Notably, Softporn Adventure (1979), an early explicit dating sim, sold approximately 25,000 copies to an apparently hungry market of around 100,000 Apple II home computer users.
"Gaming fans have always had a desire to see sexual content in their games."
Major U.S. retailers decided not to sell adult content once video games became a legitimate industry. This was both to comply with cultural censorship and to continue the original trend of targeting children through video games. This has made it difficult for consumers to find porn games or well-produced content over the decades. It also makes it unsafe to buy them from a rinky-dink seller in a dark back alley of internet.
The persistent supply of poor quality hentai gaming products and their continued use as a vehicle for scams, which is presumably moderately profitable, speaks to an unyielding demand. Fan efforts are intense to modify mainstream games to include sexual content such as basic nudity.
In recognition of the changing demographics and sexual preferences of gamers, major mainstream games like the Baldurs Gate, God of War, and Witcher series began to include explicit content in the last ten years. Wysocki explained that simultaneously, Wysocki praised the rapid growth of crowdfunding platforms and the accessibility of tutorials and game development tools. These indie producers were successful in creating NSFW games, attracting loyal fans, and avoiding censorship via these platforms in mid-2010s. These developments were a clear sign of cultural change.
Many digital retailers are still reluctant to accept adult games. Game developers also complain that crowdfunding platforms and mainstream retailers that allow explicit content are reluctant to grant it. This leads to inconsistent and unpredictable crackdowns on certain hentai-related games.
This balancing act of demand and creation, combined with uncertain markets, led to the creation of new hubs such as Nutaku. These hubs offer creators a safe haven and consumers a one-stop shop that allows them to browse their content without worrying about privacy or scams.
Nutaku has made it clear that they will not allow depictions of violence, incestuous, or underage sex on its platform. This commitment was made through proactive pre-release reviews. Critics argue that there have been many games on the site that involved sexual pressure or duplicity and characters who seem to be worryingly young. They also advocate for limiting the use of misogyny.
Celen stated that it would be a mistake to leave money on the table for large adult companies to avoid this.
Porns data drive
Companies leave huge amounts of cash at the proverbial table all the time. Therefore, just because MindGeek could theoretically explore the hentai gambling space doesn't necessarily mean that it would be able to do so.
MindGeeks entry into this market could be explained by the fact that it expected a large payout for taking on risks and investing. Nutaku registration can be done for free but users will need to pay around 90% of the games.
The majority of Nutaku games cost between $1-10, and many of the top titles are free to play. The games heavily rely on micro-transactions, which can always bring in big bucks. We don't know much about Nutaku's profitability, or what MindGeek thought of its earnings potential in 2015. Wysocki said that making money from games solely via microtransactions is just beginning to be accepted in the gaming industry.
We do know, however, that the adult industry is attracted to rich and robust data. It is.
Even though they don't broadcast it, pornographers are extremely hungry for user data. They want it to be used to guide content creation, just like other media companies.
Data can also be used to help porn companies place the right videos in front for each customer, increasing subscriptions, sales and time spent on the site. An increase in page engagement can make a site more attractive to advertisers and increase their willingness to pay space. Selling data or insights to companies that are looking to target their products and market can result in some very lucrative profits.
This is especially true in a porn industry that has suffered economic ruin over the past decade, largely due to the advent of porn sites free of charge, such as MindGeeks.
"Porn is not a strategy to collect user data."
MindGeek is a web design company. Porn is just a way to collect user data," stated Brandon Arroyo (a porn researcher and host the podcast Porno Cultures).
However, the adult industry has struggled to accumulate solid and actionable data. Celen points out that porn viewing is very passive. Consumers can type in keywords or browse for a few minutes, then they are done.
Sites can only view all search and browsing activity associated to one IP address, device, browser, and browser to create a dossier about a user. Sites can track how long someone lingers on a page, which parts they watch, whether they were active on a page while watching the clip, and many other details. They can then aggregate this data and add some guesses about demographics to get the broad-based insights they desire. This data is limited by the fact that there is very little active interaction with porn sites and the active efforts of some users to mislead them, especially to protect their sexual privacy, so it has some limitations.
These basic insights may be supplemented by more detailed, demographically-pegged survey data from porn companies. Brazzers regularly sends out aggressive advertisements asking people to complete its questionnaires. People lie when asked to fill out surveys, especially when they are anonymous and cover taboo subjects. There is likely to be some selection bias when it comes to who, even porn viewers, will fill out a survey on a topic. Even this seemingly more robust source of data is also hampered from the beginning.
How you can make your games more interesting
Gaming is an active and engaged digital activity. Players make subtle choices which can be tracked online.
Rob Shavell, a data security company Abine stated that every gaming choice is essentially a survey question. It is a question that is answered without believing anyone is actually watching and it may be more honest than a standard survey answer.
Shavell observed that "some groups have started designing games specifically for market analysis."
Wysocki points to the fact that adult games require users to make constant decisions. These can include choosing a dating sim character, creating an avatar, or choosing a dating sim character. Or picking a kink out of a RPG list.
Chris Ling, CEO at Sekai Project, an independent video game publisher, stated that "there's a lot to be gotten just by watching people mash buttons." He also mentioned that Denpasoft, the sister company of Sekai Project has licensed, translated and published adult games from Japan since 2014.
Denpasoft is a visual novel company that doesn't require many active choices. He said that this was not his business. He wouldn't be surprised, however, if other companies use decision-making as a core part of their profit strategies.
Nutaku's games seem to be a lot more active than others.
Shavell also points out that almost all adult gaming platforms require registration and age verification, often including credit card details for micro-transactions. They can collect more accurate and reliable information about their users, which is possible because they are compliant with regulations.
Acevedo reports that Nutaku currently has more than 60 million registered users and is experiencing exponential growth. Past studies of hentai gamers suggest that most play games every single day.
It doesn't matter if data collection was a key part in MindGeek developing and promoting Nutaku. There is an inordinate amount of user information that sits there, waiting for analytics-happy companies to make use of it.
More data, more problems
It's easy to see the data collection potential inherent at Nutaku and other gaming sites hentai as a neutral fact of modern digital life. We are constantly sharing data on the internet implicitly in exchange for nearly every digital product and service. Adult sites have a strong interest in protecting their users' data. This is due to the potential PR disaster they would face if some of the sexy content accidentally leaked into the world.
However, heavy data collection comes with risks.
Shavell stated that "attacks against gaming platforms are common" as fraudsters want to gain access to personal data. Recent research by Akamai, a cybersecurity firm, showed that American gaming platforms were the victims of "credential stuffing" attacks between 2018 and 2020. This is where scammers attempt to insert username and password combinations they have gleaned from previous leaks on the internet into a platform for infiltrating accounts.
Nutaku's policies acknowledge that it uses third-party services. These services collect data on users, but each one has its own privacy policies. Nutaku doesn't endorse or restrict the way these sites use information collected from site users.
We know from experience that adult content creators don't use any consumer data to create content that is more representative of sexuality. They are able to learn about every niche and help us all discover our desires and identities. They are businesses that ultimately drive their bottom lines. They often use data to get a better understanding of their most profitable customers, both current and potential, as well as the content that will attract, engage, and keep them engaged. They then double down on the content. This can lead to the artificial amplifying of certain niche trends and desires while suppressing others. This could be accelerated by the accumulation of larger data troves like those offered by hentai gaming platforms.
Dataset biases can lead to serious errors in judgement or actions. Even though it might seem rich, data derived from hentai gaming sites will likely have many biases. While Nutaku has made conscious efforts increase its female user base and to include queer users, the site is still dominated by men and mirrors traditional video game consumers. Clough, International Game Developers Association suspects that most of the site’s ostensibly LGBTQ-friendly content feels like it was created by heterosexual men filtering their views and desires to see what other groups may want. She also said that it's still hidden under a mountain of more aggressively made for a male-gaze hentai content, which can be quite off-putting to non-gamers.
Nutaku users often interact with and make decisions in the context of games that still reflect the worst misogynistic tendencies of the field. They view women as objects to be ogled and caught. They view sex as a reward for following a set of steps. To get their desired prizes, they often direct users to make coercive or aggressive decisions. These subtle biases can be more difficult to detect and control than just demographic skews.
These unchecked biases can lead to the creation of content that reinforces toxic tropes, not only within the confined and self-sustaining ecosystem of one hentai site but across the wider porn universe.
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