In July 2025, Steam removed selected adult games, while itch.io temporarily took adult NSFW pages out of search and browse results as it responded to payment-processing concerns. Players and creator groups protested, describing the actions as censorship and warning that broad or unclear enforcement could affect lawful adult games and LGBTQ+ creators. The two platforms took different measures, and the available reporting does not establish whether their 2025 policies or paid-game indexing remain in effect in October 2026.
What happened to NSFW games on Steam and itch.io?
The controversy was not one identical ban across both storefronts. Steam removed selected titles. Itch.io, an open marketplace with more than two million product pages by its own July 2025 account, deindexed adult NSFW material from search and browse while it reviewed content and addressed payment-processor scrutiny.
| Platform | Action reported in July 2025 | What that meant for access |
|---|---|---|
| Steam | Valve removed selected adult titles. WIRED reported Valve’s explanation that it had been notified that certain games might violate rules and standards of payment processors, card networks, and banks. | Selected listings were removed; the reporting does not establish that every adult game was affected or explain the access status of every removed title. |
| itch.io | The platform deindexed adult NSFW content from browse and search pages while auditing content and responding to payment-processor scrutiny. | Deindexing reduced discoverability but was not the same as deleting every page. Itch.io said deindexed pages could remain accessible through users’ existing libraries and collections. |
The distinction matters: a title missing from storefront search may still exist on the service, while a removed listing or a page that receives a content notice can involve a different action. Itch.io separately described some pages as receiving content notices or being permanently removed; those outcomes should not be conflated with broad deindexing.
Why did the platforms act?
Payment access was central to the platforms’ explanations
Valve’s reported explanation referred to possible conflicts with the rules of its payment partners. Itch.io founder Leaf Corcoran said the platform needed to protect its ability to process payments for the wider creator marketplace, writing: “Our ability to process payments is critical for every creator on our platform. To ensure that we can continue to operate and provide a marketplace for all developers, we must prioritize our relationship with our payment partners and take immediate steps towards compliance.”
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Itch.io said its open, user-generated marketplace differed from Steam because it had more than two million product pages, while Steam reviewed pages before listing them. It presented that scale, along with reliance on payment partners, as a reason it had to conduct a broad review. The platform’s July 2025 explanation followed scrutiny after Collective Shout campaigned against adult games and directed concerns to payment companies. That chronology does not prove a card network directly ordered every subsequent platform decision.
Payment companies disputed the extent of their role
Mastercard told WIRED that it had not evaluated games or required restrictions on gaming platforms. The company said its network allows lawful purchases while requiring controls against unlawful purchases. Its spokesperson, Seth Eisen, said: “Our payment network follows standards based on the rule of law. Put simply, we allow all lawful purchases on our network.”
That leaves a real distinction between a platform responding to what it believes are partner requirements and a payment network explicitly ordering a particular game’s removal. The reporting supports the former as part of the platforms’ stated reasoning; it does not establish that card networks selected the titles removed by Steam or directed all of itch.io’s deindexing.
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What was the campaign against?
Collective Shout framed its campaign around games it characterized as depicting rape, incest, or child sexual abuse. WIRED reported the group’s claims about the number of games it identified, while noting that it did not provide its methodology when asked. Those claims are the campaign’s characterization, not an independently verified count of titles or a finding about every game affected by platform decisions.
Opponents of broad restrictions argued that vague or wide enforcement could reach lawful, consensual adult work, games about difficult subjects, or creators already exposed to discrimination. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) warned that delistings and payment disruptions could disproportionately affect queer, trans, and creators of color. Its executive director, Jakin Vela, said: “The right to make mature games with legal adult content is a creative right, just like the right to tell stories about war, death, or love.”
WIRED reported developers’ concerns involving titles including Vile: Exhumed, Consume Me, and Last Call. Those examples illustrate why creators and players feared that opaque rules could affect works beyond explicit adult games; they do not establish the reason any individual title was flagged. Itch.io also said some pages that creators believed had been caught in the July change had already been unindexed under older eligibility rules.
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What changed on itch.io after the initial deindexing?
On July 31, 2025, itch.io said it was reindexing free adult NSFW content. It said paid content would return slowly while discussions with payment processors continued. The update also said Stripe could not support adult content designed for sexual gratification, citing restrictions from its banking partners.
These were updates about the platform’s position at that time, not confirmation of its current October 2026 policy. The available sources do not establish whether paid adult games are currently indexed on itch.io, or whether Steam’s 2025 enforcement approach remains unchanged. A 2026 report about Kickstarter’s mature-content policy shows that payment-processor tensions continued on a related creator platform, but it does not establish current Steam or itch.io rules.
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WIRED reported that players organized on Bluesky, X, and Reddit, circulated lists of affected creators and pages, encouraged people to contact payment companies, and promoted petitions. WIRED reported that a Change.org petition had more than 185,000 signatures in 2025; that is a dated count, not a current total.
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The IGDA urged concerned people to contact financial institutions and support petitions. AFEE, a Japanese organization focused on entertainment expression, argued for established age ratings, regional filters, and protection for lawful mature works. These are advocacy positions, not proof that any specific alternative would satisfy payment partners’ requirements.
What alternatives are being debated?
The dispute is partly about how platforms should distinguish content and manage risk. Broad removal or deindexing can be fast to implement, but it can also make lawful work difficult to find and leave creators unsure which rule they violated. More targeted approaches could involve age ratings, content notices, regional controls, and clearer explanations or appeal routes. AFEE advocated ratings and regional filters; itch.io’s updates described steps it took under payment pressure. The available reporting does not show that targeted controls would meet every processor’s rules or that either storefront adopted a comprehensive alternative in response.
- Scope: Steam’s reported action involved selected titles; itch.io’s initial action broadly affected adult NSFW discoverability.
- Discoverability versus deletion: Search and browse removal can hide a page without erasing it, while individual notices or permanent removals are separate outcomes.
- Transparency: Creators and players raised concerns about unclear criteria and the difficulty of knowing why a listing was affected.
- Targeting: Age ratings and regional filtering are proposed ways to distinguish audiences and jurisdictions, but the sources do not establish that they resolve payment-partner concerns.
Can you still access games you bought on itch.io?
Itch.io’s FAQ said deindexed pages could remain accessible through existing libraries and collections. That means deindexing did not, by itself, establish that every affected game or purchase had become inaccessible. Itch.io founder Leaf Corcoran advised users to keep control of content they own by downloading and backing up DRM-free games. A local backup can preserve a copy you have downloaded, but it does not restore storefront discoverability or prevent a creator from withdrawing a title.
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