Why did thousands of adult titles just disappear from the biggest PC gaming marketplaces?

The Guardian

3 days ago

In the last two weeks, thousands of 'adult only' and 'not safe for work' games have disappeared from Steam and itch.io – two of the most prominent distribution platforms for PC video games – as they scrambled to comply with stricter rules mandated by payment processors such as MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal.
These rules were established after a campaign by the organisation Collective Shout, which urged payment processors to stop facilitating payments to platforms hosting 'rape, incest and child sexual abuse-themed games'. But the new rules have affected a far broader range of games – including some award-winning titles.
On 16 July, Valve, the developer of Steam, updated its rules and guidelines regarding the games and software that can be distributed on the platform. The rules, which already prohibited 'nude or sexually explicit images of real people' and 'adult content that isn't appropriately labelled or age gated' were expanded to include 'content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam's payment processors' including 'certain kinds of adult content'.
In a statement to PC Gamer on 18 July, Valve confirmed it was 'retiring' several games from the Steam store due to these new rules. It did not clarify which games were being removed, nor what 'kinds of adult content' are now deemed unsuitable.
A week later, itch.io issued a statement explaining it had also come under 'scrutiny' from payment processors, and as such was 'deindexing' (removing from search results) all games labelled 'NFSW' as it undertook a 'comprehensive audit of content to ensure we can meet the requirements of our payment processors.' Unlike Valve, itch.io specifically referenced Collective Shout as the cause of the renewed scrutiny.
Collective Shout is an Australian organisation that describes itself as 'a grassroots campaigns movement against the objectification of women and the sexualisation of girls'.
In April, it successfully petitioned to have the game No Mercy – which featured depictions of 'incest', 'blackmail' and 'unavoidable non-consensual sex' – removed from Steam and itch.io. After this, the group published an open letter to payment processors claiming to have 'discovered hundreds of other games featuring rape, incest and child sexual abuse on both Steam and itch.io', and requesting payment processors 'demonstrate corporate social responsibility and immediately cease processing payments on Steam and itch.io'.
After Steam altered its rules, Collective Shout claimed credit for the change, stating that more than 1,000 of its supporters had called or emailed payment processors to demand they 'stop facilitating payments and profiting from these games'.
Like many online retailers, Steam and itch.io rely on payment processors to enable users to make purchases on their platforms. As such, these companies hold considerable power and can influence what products – regardless of their legality – are bought, sold or published.
In recent years, payment processors have become increasingly strict about transactions relating to adult content. In 2021, the subscription-based video platform OnlyFans, widely used by adult content creators, announced it would ban adult material from the site after pressure from payment processors – though this plan was subsequently abandoned. Later that year, Mastercard imposed a new policy regulating adult content sellers – one criticised by the American Civil Liberties Union as being restrictive to free speech and potentially harmful to sex workers – and an example of what is known as financial censorship.
It isn't clear how many games have been 'retired' from Steam due to the new rules, but multiple games that depicted incest fantasies have been removed. Itch.io, as mentioned, has deindexed most games labelled NSFW. According to the games industry newsletter Game File, more than 20,000 games have been removed from itch.io's NSFW category since 16 July.
But these include games that explore queer identity and sexuality, such as Radiator 2 by Robert Yang, a former teacher at New York University's Game Center. And the rules have also hit games that do not depict sex in any way at all. These include Last Call, a game about surviving domestic violence by award-winning game designer Nina Freeman, and Consume Me, a game about disordered eating which has also won numerous industry awards.
Many developers have decried the power that payment processors wield over what games are bought and sold, and how that power can be exerted indirectly by campaign groups such as Collective Shout. In a Bluesky post, Yang described Collective Shout and payment processors as 'waging culture war against LGBTQ people and sexual expression', while Consume Me's developers told Wired that it is 'completely unacceptable that payment processors are conducting censorship-by-fiat and systematically locking adult content creators out of platforms'.
A change.org petition calling for payment processors and activist groups to 'stop controlling what we can watch, read, or play' was launched on 17 July. The petition claims 'MasterCard and Visa are interfering with legal entertainment', and demands 'the right to choose the stories we enjoy without moral policing'. So far it has accrued more than 150,000 signatures. Meanwhile, gamers and developers are sharing the phone numbers of major payment companies and encouraging people to call and complain.
It is hard to know for sure. With sustained consumer pressure, payment processors may reconsider their position, but it may also be challenging for anti-censorship voices to muster political support due to prevailing legislative winds surrounding online adult content. The UK this month enacted stricter regulations regarding age verification for internet users wanting to access adult content, while the EU has drafted guidelines for similar systems.
Consequently, it is likely that the new rules will remain in place at Steam and itch.io, at least for the immediate future. But the fallout has drawn attention to the power that payment processors wield, and the lack of clarity surrounding their rules. Because of this, they may tread more cautiously when responding to pressure from advocacy groups in the future.