Itch.io is the latest marketplace to crack down on adult games
Indie video game marketplace Itch.io has announced a significant shift in its content policy, opting to “deindex” adult and not-safe-for-work (NSFW) games from its browse and search pages. This move mirrors a growing trend among digital platforms to align content guidelines with the stringent requirements of their financial partners, impacting creators and the broader digital landscape.
The decision by Itch.io comes in the wake of a concerted campaign by Collective Shout, an advocacy group known for its critical stance on various media forms, including video games. The group specifically targeted Itch.io and Steam over the sale of “No Mercy,” a game that depicts highly sensitive themes of rape and incest. Collective Shout’s efforts extended to an open letter addressed to major payment processors such as PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa, urging them to cease facilitating transactions for games deemed to promote “sexualized abuse and torture of women and girls,” arguing such content contradicts corporate values.
This external pressure has already yielded results elsewhere. Steam, another prominent game distribution platform, previously announced its intention to ban games that contravene the rules and standards set by its payment processors and affiliated banks. Itch.io cited similar motivations, stating, “To ensure that we can continue to operate and provide a marketplace for all developers, we must prioritize our relationship with our payment partners and take immediate steps towards compliance.”
Itch.io clarified that “No Mercy” had only been temporarily available on its platform before being banned in April. The company described the situation as rapidly developing, necessitating urgent action to safeguard its core payment infrastructure without prior notice to creators. Consequently, all adult content has been temporarily deindexed while Itch.io conducts a “comprehensive audit” to ensure compliance with payment processor requirements. Post-audit, NSFW game creators will be mandated to verify that their content adheres to the policies of the payment processors linked to their accounts.
The swift policy change has sparked considerable debate and criticism within the creator community. Developers have highlighted Itch.io’s existing terms, which declare adult content violations as “permanent with no chance of appeal,” often leading to the forfeiture of all funds in an offending account—not just those related to the flagged content. This stringent penalty has raised concerns about financial security for indie developers.
This isn’t an isolated incident. The influence of payment companies on content policies has been a recurring theme across various digital platforms. Last year, Gumroad, a platform for creators, cited payment processor restrictions when implementing stricter rules for NSFW art, leaving many adult content creators in disarray. Similarly, OnlyFans faced a backlash when it initially banned explicit content in 2021, attributing the decision to pressure from “banking partners and payment providers,” though this ban was subsequently reversed.
In response to these industry-wide shifts, a Change.org petition, garnering over 137,000 verified signatures, explicitly criticizes Mastercard and Visa. The petition demands that these payment giants “stop censoring legal fictional content that complies with the law and platform standards” and “reject influence from activist groups that promote moral panic or misrepresent fiction as harm.” The ongoing tension between content platforms, creators, advocacy groups, and financial institutions underscores the complex challenges of digital commerce and content moderation in the modern age.
