Overview

Cult of the Lamb Sex Update refers to an upcoming update titled "Sins of the Flesh" for the 2022 roguelike base-building game Cult of the Lamb, commonly referred to within the game's community as the "sex update" despite not actually adding sexual content to the game. Shortly following the announcement of the update in late November 2023, the social media account for the game performed a viral stunt, promising to add a "sex update" to the game should the social account account reach over 300,000 followers by the end of the year, and managed to accomplish the feat within three hours instead. The so-called "sex update" inspired an memes, discussions and similar promises from other users and companies on X / Twitter.

Background

On November 23rd, 2023, "Sins of the Flesh," a major content update for the 2022 roguelike video game Cult of the Lamb was announced on social media.^[1] The announcement image depicted the protagonist surrounded by naked followers, their private parts covered only by fig leaves.

📢ANNOUNCING📢🐍SINS OF THE FLESH🔴our next FREE MAJOR CONTENT UPDATE! 🔥Loyal Cultist, your patience has not gone unseen. Coming very early next year, this update is packed with new features, stories, and more! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/RYT4UJp9Tq

— Cult of the Lamb (@cultofthelamb) November 23, 2023

Starting on the same day, users on X / Twitter and other social media referred to the announced update as "sex update," a reference to a long-running meme in the gaming community in which players demand developers to add sex to their games. For example, on November 23rd, 2023, X^[2] user @_RiffenChan_ posted a Timmy Turner Praying meme that received over 3,100 reposts and 27,000 likes in one week (shown below).

On November 24th, 2023, Massive Monster clarified^[3] that the "sex update" was "more of a meme in the community" and that the "age rating hopefully won't change after the update."

On November 28th, 2023, the X^[4] / Twitter account for the game made a post that promised to "add sex to the game" if the account reached 300,000 followers by the end of the year, from approximately 285,000 at the time of the post. The post (shown below) garnered over 27,000 reposts and 249,000 likes in two days.

The target was reached within three hours;^[5] later on November 28th, 2023, the account posted a meme promising to deliver the update in early 2024. The post (shown below) gained over 8,200 reposts and 56,000 likes on X^[6] in two days.

Oof, that only took 2 hours 🥹Looks like we are adding Sex to Cult of the Lamb. 🥵💦Let's aim for the very beginning of 2024! https://t.co/Fqc6ZYqtII pic.twitter.com/H5N5ElSpMc

— Cult of the Lamb (@cultofthelamb) November 28, 2023

On November 29th, X user @KnightSinclair,^[7] the social media manager for the account, revealed that the account gained over 123,000 followers within the last 72 hours.

Online Reactions

The viral success of the stunt inspired memes, discussions, fan art and similar promises both from companies and users on X / Twitter. For example, on November 29th, X^[8] user @Mhuyo made a post in which they promised to draw breasts if their account reached 200,000 followers by the end of 2023. The post (shown below, left) received over 530 reposts and 5,800 likes in one day. Later that day, video game developer Aggro Crab quoted the post, writing that they will add sex to their game if the account climbs to 69,000 followers by the end of the year, with the post garnered over 1,800 reposts and 39,000 likes on X^[9] in one day (shown below, right).

On November 30th, artist Telepurte posted an artwork inspired by the stunt that received over 5,400 reposts and 60,000 likes on X^[10] in one day (shown below).

Search Interest

External References