"Payment processors like Mastercard and Visa have been mounting a pressure campaign on video game marketplaces Steam and Itch.io to remove certain adults-only content since early summer. After taking down a game called No Mercy in April at the behest of payment processors and an Australian anti-porn organization, there has been a steady expansion in the application of these new policies."
"Steam, for its part, made some incredibly vague policy changes to appease the payment giants, adding a sweeping clause that promises to ban certain kinds of adults-only content before proceeding to remove hundreds of games. Itch.io made similar changes before removing more than 20,000 titles from its marketplace. Steam has removed hundreds of titles that we know of. The apparent scope creep is of particular concern to small independent developers whose fairly innocuous games were banned from Steam and delisted from Itch.io."
Valve updated Steam Early Access policy to no longer accept games with what the company deems to be mature themes. Dammitbird's adult adventure Heavy Hearts was denied Early Access placement because of content. Mastercard and Visa pressured Steam and Itch.io to remove adults-only content beginning early summer. After No Mercy was taken down in April at the behest of payment processors and an Australian anti-porn organization, the policies' application steadily expanded. Steam added a vague sweeping clause banning certain adults-only content and removed hundreds of games. Itch.io removed over 20,000 titles. Many small independent developers lost listings due to scope creep. Card payments are policed through acquiring banks and processors enforcing card networks' brand-safety and anti-trafficking rules, affecting regional payment support.
Read at Engadget
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