Steam and Itch.io game platforms have deleted or made thousands of games from their shops. A blow for the creators, which is due to an Australian movement, and the involvement of Visa and Mastercard in the case.
Dirty night for many creators of video games. A few days after Steam, it is the turn of the very popular ITCH.IO platform to make a big cleaning in its catalog. The latter is particularly popular with independent developers, but also hosts other forms of content, including comics.
During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, players and creators were able to notice the disappearance of many games on Itch.io. After several hours of panic, the platform ended up formalizing its change in policy.
It follows the same change announced by Steam a week ago: the content deemed adult is either staggered by the platform, or downright deleted. Creators can no longer receive payments pending, the money is blocked by the store.
A very particular definition of “adult” content
By “adult” content, or NSFW (No Safe for Work) In English, Itch.io and Steam platforms do not hear the violent, murderous, bloody, or reserved or reserved games for their graphic horror.
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No, for the most part, these are games containing erotic, or pornographic scenes. But that’s not all. Several developers highlight the disappearance of non -erotic games, simply carrying the tags ” LGBT »Or« Furry ». Several authors • Trans have also seen their novels being declined by Itch.io.
This particular definition of adult content is due in the militant action of the collective group Shout, explicitly mentioned in the announcement of ITCH.IO. This Australian collective who says ” apolitical “Is concerned with” The growing porification of culture and the way in which his messages have rooted in dominant society, presenting distorted and dishonest ideas on women and girls, sexuality and relations ».
Why itch.io gave in
So how did an Australian collective manage to force Steam and itch.io to delete or delude these games? It is actually the payment platforms that have taken over this pressure.
Mastercard, Visa and Paypal platforms have been known for several to be particularly chilly on these subjects. This is this subject that led to the closure of the USIP platform in France. Sites like Onlyfans are also threatened to lose their financial partners.
Our ability to treat payments is essential for each creator on our platform. To ensure that we can continue to work and provide a market to all developers, we must prioritize our relationship with our payment partners and take immediate measures to comply.
Itch.io has therefore chosen to sacrifice part of its content to ensure that it keeps access to its payment partners for the rest of its platform.
What alternatives?
These facts again relaunch the question of an alternative to American payment giants that are visa, mastercard and paypal, in particular in Europe.
In April, against the backdrop of trade war with the United States, the European Union had revived the idea of building a European alternative.
This is partly the role of Wero, who proposes to be a new system for sending money replacing both transfers between individuals and bank transfers.
In France as a reminder, if the Carte Bleue brand was sold to Visa, the “CB” payment system has remained French and under the control of French banks. Payment by the CB network therefore does not go through visa or mastercard. A choice now favored by some consumers, when a platform offers such a choice.