US EditionOnce a Relative Haven for Adult Games, itch.io Begins Removing Explicit Titles
ONLINE PLATFORM ITCH.IO, JUL 24 – Itch.io removed over 20,000 adult games from search results due to payment processor demands amid pressure from anti-pornography campaigns targeting explicit game content.
- On July 23, itch.io removed all NSFW games from its main storefront and search results, reducing the 'Adult' category from nearly 17,000 to 48 visible titles.
- The platform acted due to urgent pressure from payment processors following a campaign by Collective Shout, an Australian anti-porn group targeting explicit content including the game No Mercy.
- In mid-July, Valve started taking down more than 400 adult-oriented games featuring themes of rape or incest from Steam to align with the requirements of its payment service providers.
- Itch.io stated it will conduct a comprehensive content audit and require NSFW game creators to confirm compliance with payment processor policies, but apologized for the abrupt change and lack of creator notice.
- The removals sparked debate over third-party influence on platform content, with concerns about censorship expanding beyond sexually explicit material and impacting diverse games and developers.
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37 Articles
Steam and Itch.io Are Pulling ‘Porn’ Games. Critics Say It’s a Slippery Slope to More Censorship
A conservative group is targeting payment processors as “a weapon” to get adult games deindexed in storefronts. Even games that have nothing to do with sex or abuse have been caught in the dragnet.
The Latest Adult Game Bans Reveal Who's In Control Of What Games We Get To Play
Perfect Garbage StudiosPC storefront Steam recently removed a large number of adult games from sale, prompting widespread outrage. Now, the situation has gotten considerably worse, as indie storefront Itch.io followed suit, not only removing swaths of games from sale, but hiding any game with content deemed inappropriate from view in searches. In both cases, the moves were made in response to demands from payment processes, driven at least in It…
Adult games are disappearing from platforms like Steam
Gaming platforms like Steam and Itch.io are deindexing and removing adult-only, NSFW games, following concerns from payment processors and pressure from the organization Collective Shout.Itch.io creator Leaf Corcoran said that the platform has "deindexed" NSFW content from its browse and search pages, explaining the circumstances in a blog post. The move came after scrutiny from the platform's payment processors, with Corcoran saying that their …
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