Itch.io is restoring NSFW games

Thursday’s Indie Started reinnexing some of the adult content that the game platform itch.io had Delisting last month amidst pressure from conservative groups and payment processors on hosting NSFW titles. This move returns some content to the site’s searchable catalogue, but only affects those games, comics, and other already free products, and therefore is not caught up in the current payment fiasco.

“We are still in constant discussion with payment processors and will slowly reintroduce paid content to ensure we can confidently support the widest range of creators in the long run,” writes Itch founder Leaf Corcoran. I’ll post it on the site.

Itching and steam on the gaming platform has begun List or remove the game permanently There will be adult content in July. The conservative group’s mass screams targeted both platforms as part of what they say is an effort to get what the group claims to be a “rape and incest” game removed from the platform.

Steam-run Valve started removing hundreds of games after Collective Shound put pressure on its payment processors, urging banking institutions not to do business with the company via content on the platform. When a group does the same thing to Itch’s payment processor, itch It reportedly went public Over 20,000 titles with NSFW tags, sparks Protest Campaign For financial institutions such as Visa and MasterCard. The registration has impacted thousands of creators, including marginalized developers who identify as queer, trans and bipok.

If Itch is unable to sign a contract with the payment processor, the company is virtually unable to sell anything to its customers. Corcoran says that one of its early processors, Stripe, “confirmed that it cannot support adult content that meets the following definitions: “Content designed for sexual satisfaction.”

In a statement given to Wired, MasterCard stated that it “does not assess the necessary limits of a game or activity” on its gaming platform. “Our payment network follows standards based on the rule of law,” says spokesman Seth Eisen. “Simply put, it allows all legal purchases on the network. At the same time, it requires merchants to have appropriate control in order to prevent MasterCard cards from being used for illegal purchases that contain illegal adult content.”

When asked how the company identifies illegal adult content on its platform, Eisen wired it policy The company posted in 2021 that it stipulates that its vendors use “strong content control measures on sites where our products are accepted.”

Itch and Valve removal is not popular with both the gaming community and creators. On Steam, some developers believe the game was unfairly affected as part of Collective Shout’s efforts. vile: Excavation Creator Chara Caderber tells Wired that he believes his game has been kicked out of the steam because of “sexual content that involves portrayals of real people.” “Everyone who has had the opportunity to play the game knows that it’s all implied,” says Cadaver. “There are a lot of gore and violent themes in the game, and that’s why I was given it.”

Cadaver said that if you can’t release it with steam, it “dramatically reduces” the game’s potential range. “Steam is the biggest video game storefront,” she says. “There are fewer people to play Despicable Or even know that it exists. ”

Valve has not responded to multiple requests for comments. The company confirmed PC Gamer In July, we removed games that violated “rules and standards set by payment processors and associated card networks and banks.”

Corcoran’s post on Thursday said Itch will add a new “content warning” system to its NSFW page. The founder previously told Wired that the platform is looking for an alternative payment processor. Valve has yet to address the platform changes since the first news.