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The Latest Breaking News from Itchio

An Unlikely Blend Of ‘Dark Souls’ And ‘Super Mario 64’ Feels Great In Its First Free Demo

The developer of 'Void Sols' is taking another swing at indie Soulslikes, this time with an old-school sensibility borrowed from Nintendo 64 platformers.

Inverse

'Legality is not the defining factor': Anti-porn group that pressured Steam and Itch.io adult game delistings says it goes after games it doesn't like 'even when they are not illegal'

"Media that glorifies sexual violence against women harms all women, regardless of whether a few women participate in its creation or consumption."

PC Gamer

‘Financial companies shouldn’t be in this position’: How more than 20,000 NSFW video games fell under censorship

A mass purge of sexually explicit games exposes the little-known yet all-encompassing system of ‘financial censorship’ practiced by payment providers such as Visa and Mastercard, reports Io Dodds

The Independent UK

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Censoring video games with sexual content suppresses the diversity of human desire

Following a campaign by Australian anti-porn organization Collective Shout, the video game distribution platforms Steam and itch.io recently made changes to their policies about hosting games with adult themes.

The Conversation

The Anti-Porn Crusade Comes for Online Games

Activists pressure payment processors, who in turn pressure game marketplaces. The result? A whole lot of video games and visual novels are disappearing.

Reason

Steam Banned A Horror Game Before It Could Launch, So Now It’s Free

A horror developer is giving her new game away for free after its planned launch was ruined by Steam's recent game bans.

Inverse

Thousands of games have been censored from major platforms, with LGBTQIA+ creators caught in the crossfire

Online game marketplaces itch.io and Valve’s Steam have recently delisted or completely removed more than 20,000 titles from their storefronts, after not-for-profit group Collective Shout pressured payment processors to change their rules.

The Conversation

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Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down, but Valve says payment processors 'specifically cited' a Mastercard rule about damaging the brand

Steam and Itch.io are worried about trouble with their payment processors, and Mastercard is not a payment processor.

PC Gamer

Mastercard denies allegations of pressuring platforms to remove NSFW games

The payment processor says it did not pressure platforms into removing games.

Destructoid

Free adult NSFW content returns to itch.io, as one of the platform's major payment processors expresses hope to 'support adult content in the future'

The small indie platform is slowly rebuilding what it needed to abruptly dismantle.

PC Gamer

Itch.io is 'actively reaching out to other payment processors' after pressure from credit card companies to curtail NSFW content, and that compared to Valve, it has 'limited ability to push back'

Clearing up the confusion.

PC Gamer

Game industry fires back as certain adult games continue to be delisted from Steam and Itch.io: "Financial institutions are now influencing which stories can be told and sold in games"

"Games that feature consensual adult content, including queer, kink-positive, or romantic narratives, are easily targeted under vague or overly cautious enforcement"

GamesRadar

Game developers association decries 'financial censorship' amidst payment processor crackdown on NSFW games, calls for 'greater transparency and fairness in how adult games are moderated'

The IGDA says the problem isn't the rules themselves, but their "vague" enforcement.

PC Gamer

Itch.io releases list of the adult content you can't put on its store anymore after anti-NSFW crackdown, including stuff that's not illegal but just icky

I'm not sure it's any processor's business to stop people buying this.

PC Gamer

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GamesRadar

Viral horror game Mouthwashing no longer appears in Itch.io search results, but that's not because of the new crackdown on NSFW games, marketplace confirms

Mouthwashing hasn't been indexed on Itch.io since last October

The Guardian - UK

Why did thousands of adult titles just disappear from the biggest PC gaming marketplaces?

Digital distribution platforms Steam and itch.io have tightened their rules about adult content – under pressure from payment processors. Why has this happened and where will it lead?

PC Gamer

Itch.io denies hiding one of 2024's best games from search results amid the payment processor crackdown on NSFW games, says it's been de-indexed since October 2024 because 'it doesn't meet our indexing criteria'

Mouthwashing no longer appears in search results on the indie-focused storefront.

PC Gamer

Visa and Mastercard pressuring Itch.io and Valve does 'nothing to protect' women, and shock games will just be 'side-stepping the ban entirely', say affected indie devs

"Cutting these women off from income streams and audiences does nothing to 'protect' them."

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The Guardian - AU

Mastercard and Visa face backlash after hundreds of adult games removed from online stores Steam and Itch.io

Payment platforms demand services remove NSFW content after open letter from Australian anti-porn group Collective Shout, triggering accusations of censorship

Inverse

The Latest Adult Game Bans Reveal Who's In Control Of What Games We Get To Play

Indie storefront itch.io has deleted and hidden huge swaths of its library after pressure from credit card companies, and developers are working to push back.

PC Gamer

Itch.io deindexes NSFW games after becoming the latest target of skittish credit card companies and anti-porn group Collective Shout, catching an award-winning indie and more in the crossfire

Finally, we're safe from… uh, award-winning indies about girlhood and games that discuss the historic oppression of queer people.

PC Gamer

Brütal Legend is free in honor of Ozzy Osbourne, but only for 666 minutes

Double Fine's 2009 adventure is a fun way to celebrate heavy metal.

Inverse

Steam’s Latest Crackdown On Sex Games Highlights An Alarming New Trend

Steam removed a wave of adult games from its storefront, and the results could be much darker than you think.

PC Gamer

John Romero says indies are the future of game development: 'These people are the ones that make triple-A studios go, 'Wait a minute, we need to start doing this''

Finding funding for those indies is another matter.

Player One

'Adaptory' Touches Down at Gamescom Indie Arena Booth This August

'Adaptory,' the sci-fi base builder from Stormcloak Games, lands at the Gamescom Indie Arena Booth ahead of its PC launch. Play the demo in Cologne.

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