Indie game platform itch.io has “deindexed” all adult NSFW content from its browse and search pages following pressure from its payment processors regarding some of the content hosted on the site.
The decision was announced by itch.io creator leafo in a post titled “Update on NSFW content,” published on July 24.
“We have ‘deindexed’ all adult NSFW content from our browse and search pages,” the post reads. “We understand this action is sudden and disruptive, and we are truly sorry for the frustration and confusion caused by this change.
“Recently, we came under scrutiny from our payment processors regarding the nature of some content hosted on itch.io. Due to a game titled No Mercy, which was temporarily available on itch.io before being banned back in April, the organization Collective Shout launched a campaign against Steam and itch.io, directing concerns to our payment processors about the nature of certain content found on both platforms.”
On July 11, Collective Shout published an open letter to “payment processors profiting from rape, incest and child abuse games on Steam,” which targeted the CEOs of PayPal (one of itch.io’s two main payment processors), Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) and requested the companies “cease processing payments on gaming platforms which host rape, incest and child sexual abuse-themed games.”
The post from itch.io explains that the platform has had to act swiftly: “Our ability to process payments is critical for every creator on our platform. 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 is now “conducting a comprehensive audit of content to ensure we can meet the requirements of our payment processors,” with leafo calling it a “time-critical moment” for the platform.
“Pages will remain deindexed as we complete our review,” the post continues. Once this review is complete, we will introduce new compliance measures. For NSFW pages, this will include a new step where creators must confirm that their content is allowable under the policies of the respective payment processors linked to their account.
“Part of this review will see some pages being permanently removed from itch.io. Affected accounts will be notified via their account’s email address from our support address. You can reply to that email if you have any follow-up questions.”
This decision from itch.io comes shortly after Valve’s introduction of new guidelines on “what you shouldn’t publish on Steam.”
One of these guidelines outlines that developers should not publish “Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult-only content.”
Valve did not confirm that Collective Shout’s campaign led to these new rules. A Valve spokesperson did, however, confirm to Eurogamer that pressure from payment processors influenced the decision to introduce these new guidelines.
“We were recently notified that certain games on Steam may violate the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their related card networks and banks,” Valve told Eurogamer. “As a result, we are retiring those games from being sold on the Steam Store, because loss of payment methods would prevent customers from being able to purchase other titles and game content on Steam.”
