This should worry every player...

A lot has been happening in our industry lately, and for those who haven’t heard yet, Joshua has prepared a post with information and a summary of recent events. This is not a development update – that’s coming soon – but we’ve been concerned about this topic recently, and we believe those who follow us and other AVN creators should be aware of it.

Well, it’s been an interesting couple of weeks.

The big news in the AVN world is that Steam and Itch.io have decided to delist some games due to the work of a fringe group of about a thousand people.

As a result, some games were removed from Steam, but ALL adult games were removed from Itch.

Itch has said that the pressure has come from Stripe. Whether this is through Mastercard and Visa or directly, we have no idea. Itch released this:

Stripe Update For those who aren’t aware, Stripe is one of the payment processors we’ve used since our early days. They have provided the “Pay with card” option on our checkout page for over 10 years. We spoke with Stripe yesterday about their content policies. They confirmed that they will not be able to support adult content that fits the following definition: “content designed for sexual gratification.” Stripe asked us to pass along the following message to our users: Stripe is currently unable to support sexually explicit content due to restrictions placed on them by their banking partners, despite card networks generally supporting adult content (with the appropriate registrations). Stripe has indicated that they hope to be able to support adult content in the future.

Mastercard recently responded to the calls inundated their lines about this issue with this:

“Mastercard has not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations,” the company wrote in a statement published on its website on August 1. “Our payment network follows standards based on the rule of law. Put simply, we allow all lawful purchases on our network. At the same time, we require merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content.”

In the same article, Valve (Steam) responded with this:

“Mastercard did not communicate with Valve directly, despite our request to do so,” Valve’s statement sent over email to Kotaku reads. “Mastercard communicated with payment processors and their acquiring banks.  Payment processors communicated this with Valve, and we replied by outlining Steam’s policy since 2018 of attempting to distribute games that are legal for distribution.  Payment processors rejected this, and specifically cited Mastercard’s Rule 5.12.7 and risk to the Mastercard brand.”

Rule 5.12.7 states, “A Merchant must not submit to its Acquirer, and a Customer must not submit to the Interchange System, any Transaction that is illegal, or in the sole discretion of the Corporation, may damage the goodwill of the Corporation or reflect negatively on the Marks.”

It goes on, “The sale of a product or service, including an image, which is patently offensive and lacks serious artistic value (such as, by way of example and not limitation, images of nonconsensual sexual behavior, sexual exploitation of a minor, nonconsensual mutilation of a person or body part, and bestiality), or any other material that the Corporation deems unacceptable to sell in connection with a Mark.”

I’ve bolded the bit above, because that is the most concerning part for our game, and for AVNs in general.

Here’s the list of banned content from Itch’s page:

We are unable to support the sale of any works containing these topics:

• Non-consensual content (real or implied)

• Underage or “barely legal” themes

• Incest or pseudo-incest content

• Bestiality or animal-related

• Rape, coercion, or force-related

• Sex trafficking implications

• Revenge porn / voyeur / hidden cam

• Fetish involving bodily waste or extreme harm (e.g., “scat,” “vomit”)

Now, looking at that list, Race of Life seems unlikely to fall afoul of any of the restrictions. The youngest love interests are all in their 20s, no one is related to the MC, everything is consensual, and no one is fetishizing any toilet movements. There are a few poop jokes, but there’s nothing sexual about it.

And the thing is, none of those topics are ever going to be in Race of Life. Even if they were, I couldn’t write them with any sort of enthusiasm. It’s just not my thing. 

So with that in mind, it’d be easy for us to think: “Well, sucks to be them, but we’re fine.”

But the thing is, once a group like this gets a win, they get publicity. They get to take a moral high ground. They get on TV, podcasts, guest spots on blogs. And with that comes authority. Influence. But most of all, money in appearance fees, donations, speaking engagements. That’s where a lot of groups, no matter how well intended, start to become a self-licking ice cream.

So, assuming all content that doesn’t comply with the list above is deleted from Steam, Itch, GoG, Subscribestar, etc. the group pushing for the censorship can either pat themselves on the back and claim the job is done, and go their own separate ways, or, they look to keep the ball rolling and push back further against what they perceive as immoral and unacceptable. 

And that’s where things get slippery.

Because for whatever reason, some people really dislike any depiction of sex being made available, but violence is acceptable.

Take Grand Theft Auto. A few of the ‘moral majority’ got up in arms when players could beat up prostitutes to get their fee back. The funny part is that there wasn’t any objection to beating up homeless people or going nuts in a fast food place and hammering randoms with anything from a bat to a rocket launcher, but as soon as sex comes into the equation, it’s a collective clutching of pearls and outrage.

So while we expect that Race of Life won’t be affected very much directly by this movement now, it’s entirely possible that the day will come that a broader definition of what is unacceptable will be put to people who control payment or list games in their storefront, and it’ll be more restrictive. We still may be OK, until another tightening. Then another. Before long, developers are cut off from revenue streams, and the sector dies… except those catering to niche extremes that can continue with direct commissions, which were the ones targeted in the first place anyway.

So to wrap this up, none of the content they’re opposing would affect what I personally enjoy as a writer or as a player, but, it’s a dangerous precedent to have where a small group of a thousand people in Australia can decide what’s morally acceptable for billions of people, and what isn’t. 

So if you’re one of the people calling up or emailing the payment providers, or even just highlighting it online, thanks for what you do. 

The AVN market allows some incredible creativity from people who would otherwise be unable to find an audience for that expression. There are some amazing original stories and characters from across the industry, at a time when mainstream entertainment is just endless rehashing of the same plots and twists.

It’d be a shame to see it limited to a smaller and smaller list of ‘acceptable’ themes.