LOS ANGELES—Itch.io is the latest popular PC gaming storefront to cave to payment processors when it comes to marketing and distributing adult games.
"We have 'deindexed' all adult NSFW content from our browse and search pages," reads a statement posted to the company's blog on July 24. "We understand this action is sudden and disruptive, and we are truly sorry for the frustration and confusion caused by this change."
Itch explicitly names the Australian anti-pornography group Collective Shout for being the reasoning for such an aggressive action. The statement published by Itch calls the move to "deindex" NSFW content on its marketplace a "time critical" one.
"We are currently conducting a comprehensive audit of content to ensure we can meet the requirements of our payment processors," adds the Itch statement.
"Pages will remain deindexed as we complete our review. Once this review is complete, we will introduce new compliance measures," the statement continues. "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."
AVN reviewed the new NSFW content policy published to the Itch Creator FAQ.
According to the new policies on NSFW content, Itch is unable to support the sale of non-consensual content that is real or implied, underage or "barely legal"-themed content, content that depicts incest or pseudo-incest, bestiality or animal-related material, content that depicts sex trafficking implications, content that deals with revenge porn, voyeur material or hidden camera footage, fetish content involving bodily waste or extreme harm (scat or vomit), and cases of content with rape, coercion and force.
"It’s almost impossible to come up with an exhaustive list of unacceptable products to sell, so often we have to take content reviews one at a time," adds the content policy. "If an issue arises with your account that isn’t already covered by our policy, then we will contact you and share what options you may have."
The FAQ added that content creators who have collected money while in violation of these terms could be forced to refund or freeze all pending transactions. Accounts for creators that violate these terms are not eligible for payouts either, reads the policy.
"Part of this review will see some pages being permanently removed from Itch.io," said Itch. "Affected accounts will be notified via their account’s email address from our support address."
Steam also recently purged scores of adult and sexually explicit games to appease payment processors. Collective Shout took credit for the pressure campaign.
Kutaku also reported that Collective Shout led a "grassroots campaign" enlisting child safety advocates to pressure companies like Visa, Mastercard and PayPal to force Steam to ultimately censor these games.
“Hundreds of sexually violent online games that let players role-play rape, incest, and the torture of women and children have been suddenly removed from the global gaming platform Steam,” said Melinda Tankard Reist, a co-founder at Collective Shout, in a social media post on X.
Reist identifies herself as a so-called "pro-life feminist" who aligns with conservative Christian beliefs and is an avid anti-pornography campaigner.
Collective Shout is Australia's equivalent of the far-right anti-pornography group the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), based in the United States. NCOSE has a decades-long history of campaigning for the censorship of speech that is protected by the First Amendment.
The criticism against the credit card companies has come full circle, reports The Guardian. The outlet indicates that a Change.org petition is currently circulating, addressed directly to Visa and Mastercard, for "interfering with legal entertainment." At the time of this writing, the petition has over 158,000 signatures backing it.
"Fiction is not reality," the petition's description reads. "Sex sells. And consent, artistic expression, and market freedom must be respected in any healthy, democratic society. ... Let creators create. Let consumers choose. Payment processors and activist groups should not be cultural gatekeepers in a digital age."
Pressure on the credit card companies is also coming from the trade group representing video game developers in the United Kingdom.
Gaming industry news publication GamesIndustry.biz reports that the Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) urges payment processors to work with developers, especially in the context of following industry-recognized age-rating systems.
"The UK games industry champions creative freedom while taking its responsibilities to players seriously. Clear and consistent age ratings are a crucial part of helping people make informed choices about the content they engage with," a UKIE spokesperson told the trade outlet.
"That’s why UKIE strongly supports the use of robust classification systems like PEGI across all platforms, including those hosting adult or experimental content. This ensures that content is labelled appropriately, that younger audiences are protected, and that creators can publish with transparency."
PEGI, or the Pan European Gaming Information rating system, is similar to the ESRB rating system in the United States. UKIE's industry members include companies like Nintendo, Sony Interactive, Microsoft, Ubisoft and countless other major and minor players in the games industry.
