to repel unnecessary audience so that there will be less outrage and criticism later, so probably such ads are generally useful for the company.
I hadn’t thought of that — it’s a pretty good point.
Larian’s games can be very dark (they are USK 18 for a reason¹) and repelling people early on who would be outraged at the content may be a good strategy. Better than having a streamer in white armor with a large following go into a fit of rage at discovering where their decisions led them.
¹: I’ve played Dragon Commander, it has none of the sex scenes (as far as I know) but even darker decisions — with stronger bonding beforehand. I loved that part of the game because of how much it hurts to even consider those actions.
