Itch And Steam's New Policies Reflect A Larger Battle On Free Speech

We live in an era of unmitigated excess and constant suppression. The wide proliferation of machine learning image generation means that anyone can make creepy porn of their celebrity of choice. Expressions like "gooning" are widespread slang. Games like Marvel Rivals and Street Fighter 6 sell themselves on their pin-up characters. Meanwhile, books for children and teens like Genderqueer and All Boys Aren't Blue are banned for being "pornographic." In July, the UK introduced an age-verification requirement for internet access, ostensibly protecting kids, but mostly violating the privacy of adults. All these things, though disparate, represent a siloing of acceptable eroticism and thereby a siloing of life and art.

Independent video games are the latest front of this suppression. In July 2025, anti-porn non-profit Collective Shout pushed multiple payment processors to stop facilitating payments for some "adult titles" from Steam and Itch.io. In an attempt to halt the immediate loss of business, Steam removed Itch de-indexed thousands of not-safe-for-work games from the storefront. To be clear, this means removed from search results--the games in-question are still available if you can find them. On August 1, Itch re-indexed free NSFW games, sidestepping the participation of payment processors altogether. The quick changes have led to no shortage of confusion.

Mastercard has since denied its direct involvement in Itch's mass de-listing, stating, "Mastercard has not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations." The statement did claim that Mastercard “require merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content.” Mastercard did not clarify whether any of the games removed from Steam were illegal. Additionally, Valve contradicted its account, stating that Mastercard communicated through payment processors and acquiring banks.

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