Domina, the gladiator management game, has been removed from Steam. The inciting incident for the ban appears to be a months-long pattern of ranting and raving, with the developer turning their own forum into a toxic cesspool. It would seem this behavior is what got the developer initially banned from their own game’s forum. Steam’s Rules and Guidelines for discussion and user-generated content bars posts that “flame or insult other members.”
So though the initial banning was bad enough, it wasn’t enough for the developer to calm down. This is not the first time this developer has found themselves in hot water. This whole mess was preceded by a series of politically motivated rants embedded in their game’s patch notes. Within the patch notes were rants against the wearing of masks to stop the spread of disease, as well as several attacks on transgender people.
The first time the developer came to the attention of the wider internet was a patch notes post that included raving pleas to “TAKE OFF THE FCKN MASKS – Next time you’re at the grocery store, try showing a woman your face. Be confident, unafraid of the LIES…”
This prompted Valve to take action, removing the developer’s ability to post in their own forum. The developer, Nicholas Gorissen, went on a tirade over the ban—attempting to stoke outrage. He lashed out at people he claimed were leaving fake reviews in response to his ranting. After days of posting harassment to Keffals and other well-known trans people like Stephanie Sterling, even other platforms grew tired of the shtick. He has since been banned from Twitter on both his personal and game-related accounts.
This wasn’t the end of his woes, either, as Valve later removed the game entirely. The Steam store page for Domina says the game is no longer available “at the request of the publisher.” But in a post on a newly created Gab account, Dolphin Barn Interactive’s Nicholas Gorissen said that is “incorrect” and that “Steam cancelled us” over the developer’s views on trans people.
This victim mentality runs throughout their persona online. In the days preceding the removal of the game from Steam, they had been viciously attacking Keffals and other trans people, and going on bizarre rants every few hours. It seems they’ve genuinely convinced themselves that they’re some avenging crusader for God. Their social media, before it was banned, was chock-full of images of ancient Roman soldiers and religious imagery. In-between posts about how much of a man they are, they went on the attack against Valve, trans folk, and anyone who drew their ire.