In early July 2025, Paypal stopped treating Steam purchases labeled in most currencies in the world. Officially, Paypal’s bank buyer cut the valve overnight. Unofficially, the decision comes in full runway of payment platforms around adult content: a pressure already at the origin of massive withdrawals of games from Steam and Itch.io. Valve ensures that the history of currencies is “only a matter of money”. Difficult to hear it without seeing the shadow of the censorship campaigns carried out in recent weeks.
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So far confined to a laconic “We cannot deal with this payment method”, Steam’s warning has turned into a detailed explanation on its FAQ: Paypal no longer works for purchases labeled in other currencies than EUR, CAD, GBP, JPY, AUD and USD. The decision was notified in Valve in early July 2025, and touches countries like Poland, Norway, Mexico, or Switzerland … Valve says hoping for a return of service, but here: “the calendar is uncertain”, can be read. Nevertheless, the Gabe Newell firm insists: this event would not have a proven link with recent NSFW controversies. The origin would be strictly banking (the Paypal buyer who drops). The information would also be corroborated with some elements communicated to the specialized press in recent days, according to Windows Central.
Thus, on paper, the Paypal/Steam file is monetary: this is a buyer who retires for certain currencies, and a functionality that jumps into a large part of the world. It is indeed consistent with the explanations of Valve and the findings of the affected players. But even if it is not directly a question of content moderation, this exposure to the risk (a partner cuts, everything collapses) illustrates the dependence of blinds with financial rails, these same rails which, a few days earlier, served as lever arms for anti-NSFW campaigns. Hence the legitimate impression despite the official communication of a red thread of censorship through finance. And in the meantime, the people affected will have to heat the bank card or Steam Wallet codes, just to get around this ban.
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