Steam's NSFW Crackdown: Did a Pressure Group Just Level Up Their Lobbying Game?
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Collective Shout claims responsibility for Steam and Itch.io NSFW game removals by lobbying payment processors after their concerns about certain games were ignored, leading to community backlash and concerns about censorship.
Right, so it looks like the recent NSFW game purges on Steam and Itch.io might have a single, very determined puppet master pulling the strings. Turns out, Australian pressure group Collective Shout is taking credit for the, shall we say, *spirited* changes we've seen lately. According to Eurogamer, these changes include Itch.io de-indexing all NSFW content (ouch!) and Steam scrambling to rewrite its adult content rules (double ouch!).
Here's the thing: Collective Shout claims they tried the polite route with Valve for months, raising concerns about games featuring, to put it delicately, some seriously problematic content. But, according to their statement, Valve just wasn't playing ball. So, they went nuclear (figuratively, of course). They started lobbying the big kahunas of the payment world: Visa, PayPal, Mastercard. And, blimey, did it work.
"We approached payment processors because Steam did not respond to us," Collective Shout declared in a Facebook post, as reported by Eurogamer. It's a bold move, mate, and it seems to have paid off (pun intended, naturally). They argued that certain games "normalised violence and abuse of women," and when Steam didn't budge, they took their case straight to the folks who control the flow of digital dosh.
Now, this is where things get a bit spicy. The gaming community, never one to back down from a good scrap, has fired back. Some are reportedly counter-lobbying Visa, arguing that the payment giant is overstepping its bounds by censoring legal content. An open letter template circulating online, also mentioned by Eurogamer, calls Visa's actions "Draconian" and threatens a switch to competitors like Discover and American Express.
And the tea? Some gamers claim to have received responses from Visa denying any content moderation or moral judgements. Visa reportedly states that if a transaction is legal, they'll process it. But the pressure from Collective Shout clearly had some effect, sparking a platform-wide crackdown on NSFW content. What’s actually going on? Your guess is as good as mine.
Here’s where it gets messy. While everyone agrees that games promoting, ahem, *unpleasant* themes should probably be yeeted into the sun, the problem is with the wide net. As Eurogamer rightly points out, this kind of blanket ban can ensnare innocent bystanders. Specifically, LGBTQ+ games are at risk, especially those that might not align with the… let’s just say, *traditional* values of groups like Collective Shout.
So, what's the takeaway? Well, it seems a small but determined group can actually influence the behemoths of the gaming world, but it might not be the influence we'd all like to see. Also, payment processors now have a seat at the gaming table, whether we like it or not. And that, my friends, is a game changer. Will it lead to more censorship? Or will the gaming community find a way to push back and protect its creative freedom? Only time will tell. But I reckon this is a story we'll be following closely.
All of this juicy news comes to us courtesy of Eurogamer. Go give 'em a read for the full, unadulterated story.
Tags: Steam, Itch.io, NSFW, Censorship, Collective Shout
Original article: Eurogamer