Censorship and Itch.io

Hi, folks! You may have heard about some recent shittiness around erotic games and payment processors. I'm still figuring out details on what approach I'll be taking on it all, but I wanted to reach out to y'all immediately.

The quick bullet points:

• None of my files or data have been lost. I will do my best to make sure all of you patrons and anyone who's bought it retains access to Ruin Me. Worst case, this may involve distributing files myself. You can always reach me by visiting: phanes.me

• Steam and itch.io have both recently been forced to change their policies about adult games, at least temporarily. Itch has temporarily hidden all erotic games from search and browsing: https://itch.io/updates/update-on-nsfw-content

• Please do not get mad at itch.io. They have historically been super cool about this sort of thing, and I want non-erotic game developers to keep receiving money. Blame the payment processors and those who lobbied them.

• This is the result of a deliberate campaign by neoreactionary, religiously-motivated groups who are using the excuse of protecting children and women to try and erase queerness and sex work from the culture. But it can be fought against.

• If you want to do something right now and you're in the United States, you can sign an ACLU petition: https://action.aclu.org/petition/mastercard-sex-work-work-end-your-unjust-policy Additionally, anyone can call Visa and Mastercard and tell them that they are preventing you from buying safe, legal porn using their credit cards.

• As you might guess, this may delay the upcoming Ruin Me release or mean that it's a smaller one, thanks to whatever time I spend on advocacy and preparing for further obstacles.

The basic story: groups of neo-Puritans, in this case an Australian org called Collective Shout, have been making hundreds of phone calls to payment processors like Visa and Mastercard. They say that they want to protect women and children, but their real goal is to erase erotic expression from culture, to make it impossible for sex workers to make a living, and to demonize and ostracize queer folk, trans folk, furries, and other people that they deem to be evil.

Because of this lobbying from conservative groups, payment processors have told Steam and Itch (and others) that they must immediately stop the sale of games that violate a set of poorly-defined rules. In Itch's case, they say they felt the need to temporarily hide games marked as adult until they are reviewed, and have said that they will be adding extra features that will hopefully prevent such a broad measure in the future. I believe them, at least until I hear or see otherwise. You can still access these games, including Ruin Me, via direct links to their store pages.

If you want to know what these anti-erotica groups really want, look at their history. They try to ban games like Grand Theft Auto V and Detroit: Beyond Human, not because of any actual harm they cause, but because they are visible targets that serve their real purpose of strengthening the censorship state. For decades now, these groups have slowly confined erotica to smaller and smaller spaces. They're why Patreon creators have to carefully watch the shifting policies so that we don't get shut down.

Sex work is work. A factory worker rents the use of their body to their bosses, providing their strength, skill and time in exchange for money. Similarly, adult performers and other sex workers get paid for using their bodies to give other people pleasure. When you listen to sex workers, they will tell you what they want: safe, anonymous ways to accept money for their work and to communicate with each other about problems and ways to protect themselves.

Likewise, we erotica creators want a safe, legal place to sell and promote our work where players can trust that they will get what they're paying for. Sites like Itch should remove games that have hidden viruses, or have stolen art, or that involve actual, real sexual exploitation. I don't want to sell my stuff among products that are actually harmful or illegal. These neoreactionary groups, on the other hand, want the dark web to be the only place porn can be found. They don't actually care about preventing harm, or they would be addressing material dangers instead of banning award-winning games about growing up.

The way to protect women and children (and everyone else!) is to have clear, well-defined guidelines and policies based on actual harm and proven solutions, not fear-mongering about evil video games.

And let me be very clear: this is not a problem that can be solved by deciding a certain category of erotica is too edgy to be allowed. Once they successfully ban BDSM and furries, they'll have more time to go after lesbians and catgirls. These are real-life Dr. Prester Harveys, trying to keep us all locked in the basement of the Reform Institute.