It’s going to come down to anything with even a whisper of LGBTQ+/minority/disability/etc representation, just like with books.

They start with the “egregious” content (not that it’s necessarily right to remove that either), then narrow it down until it shapes up into hegemonic conformity and systemic oppression via media (there’s a term for it, kind of like stochastic violence but not quite that I can’t remember atm).

So what do I, a common shlub, do to resist this? Boycott Steam and itch.io until they reinstate the games?

Once they get rid of the sex they'll come for the violence.

Isnt itch.io only indie games?

There are specific games in steam's case I'm very ok with getting removed, but at the same time its very fucked up that we're in a situation where the world is beholden to payment processors. Ideally this would be a case where they go directly to Valve and say "hey we think you should take a look at your content policy and at these specific games" and Valve makes the call from there on where they want to draw the line.

I don't even understand how they give a shit. Seems like the perfect place for shareholders to want them to make as much money as possible, it's a limited market.

It's an Australian organisation pressuring the payment processors.

Finicial authority beats moral everytime.

The fact that they hold the keys to the kingdom. Online retailers and businesses rely on credit card processors to be able to do business, which is all the leverage they need to exert tremendous pressure on the businesses they service.

This is something that really should be getting legislated against, but good luck in the US under the current administration. Maybe the EU has a shot.

I'm sure this is no coincidence that cbristofascists are in control of all the top branches of US Government.

It’s not about morals. It’s purely about money. Porn sites are labeled as high risks because things like chargebacks, stolen credit cards etc happen more often at these adult websites. Not to mention the thin line between legal and illegal content. Therefore payment processors charge companies in the high risk category a higher fee since they need to audit these companies more frequently and deal with these chargebacks etc. more.

So either Itch.io goes into the high risk category and pay more for transactions or they remove porn. Maybe itch.io should just create a separate company to host these adult games.

The Rust community just knows what's up.

Gives a new meaning to the term "code smell".

Controlling the money means controlling the world.

Fucking signed.