itch.io is the latest market to crack down on adult games

Indie Video Game Marketplace itch.io This week we announced that it has “DeIndexed” A game of meaningless work with adultsremove them from the browsing and search pages.

The move, according to the company, is held by a collective cry campaign (advocacy groups). Previously criticised Targets both video games, rap music, lingerie commercials) itch.io And steam to sell “No Mercy” and its game It depicts rape and incest.

in Open Letter Addressed to executives of PayPal, MasterCard, Visa and other payment processors, Collective Sout said the game “flys in the face of efforts to support sexual abuse of men and torture of women and girls and deal with violence against women.”

“We don’t understand that promoting payment transactions and extracting financial benefits from these violent and unethical games is consistent with your company’s values and mission statement,” the organization added.

The campaign appears to have worked, and Steam says it will do so earlier this month Games are prohibited “We may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam payment processors and associated card networks and banks, or Internet network providers.”

Similarly, itch.io “To ensure that we continue to operate and provide the market for all developers, we need to prioritize relationships with payment partners and take immediate steps towards compliance.”

He also said that “temporarily available on itch.io before it is banned in April” and that “quickly act on the platform’s core payments infrastructure” would “urgently act” without providing sophisticated notification to the creators.

The company said it is currently conducting a “comprehensive audit” to ensure that games available in the market meet “payment processor requirements” and that adult content will remain disabled until the audit is complete. After the audit, itch.io The creator of the NSFW game said it should ensure that content is permitted under the payment processor policy linked to the account.

Users criticize on social media itch.ioThe decision pointed out that Current Terminology Adult content violations are “permanent, with no chance of appeal,” and problematic account funds “not eligible for payment” or as one developer Put it down“If you violate the rules, we take all the money. Not just the money from that job, but all the money from all the money you’ve made so far.”

This isn’t the first time that payment companies seem to be putting more pressure on online platforms than adult content. For example, last year, Gumroad pointed out restrictions from payment processors. More strict rules have been implemented Around NSFW Art, only fans have denounced “bank partners and payment providers.” Prohibited express content (That decision) After that, it turned around).

a Change.orgPick up Over 137,000 verified signatures criticize MasterCard and Visa for their role in determining these types of decisions. Among other things, the petition requires payment companies to “stop censoring legal fictional content complying with law and platform standards” and “rejecting influence from groups of activists who misrepresent moral panic or false fiction as harmful.”