Game over: how payment processors are quietly censoring Indie Games

Steam and Itch.io have started removing adult and sensitive-content games on a large scale, leading to significant backlash. The removals started with Steam, but Itch.io has been harsher, delisting and hiding games from searches, including some without any sexual content. In its statement, Itch.io said that pressure from its payment processors forced them to take action. The backlash started when No Mercy, a game that was briefly available on the platform, was banned in April. This title became the center of a Collective Shout’s campaign, which pressured both Steam and Itch.io by contacting their payment providers with concerns about adult content. The implication is clear: remove adult games or lose access to the financial system needed to operate. Itch.io now tells developers to follow the policies set by its payment processors; however, those policies are not clearly defined. Although Steam is the larger platform, Itch.io’s actions have faced more intense criticism, partly because of its history as a refuge for indie and adult game creators.  For decades, video games have been scrutinized by lawmakers and moral advocates. However, what we see now could be the most extensive act of censorship in the history of gaming, not initiated by politics, but by credit card companies.