Steam and itch.io removed thousands of adult-themed games in mid-July 2025. This wasn’t simply a “cleanup” of low-quality content, but rather a response to increased pressure from payment platforms (such as Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal) on adult-oriented games. This move sparked widespread discussion in the European and American gaming communities, with far-reaching market implications, encompassing platform strategies, content creation freedom, and the independent developer ecosystem.
Core market impact
Platform content policies are tightening.
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While Steam and itch.io have supported adult content for years, this large-scale removal demonstrates the following:
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Platforms are becoming increasingly subordinate to payment processors and may no longer provide a “gray area” for niche or marginal content.
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The boundaries of what constitutes “violation” are blurring, and even legal content can be removed due to sensitive subject matter, undermining developer confidence.
For example, many LGBTQ+ narrative games or visual novels that aren’t extremely pornographic have also been affected, leading to concerns in the community about a “new kind of censorship.”
The independent developer ecosystem has been damaged.
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itch.io is a major platform for adult-oriented and niche creative games. This incident has dealt a heavy blow to developers:
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Income sources have been cut off, especially for creators who rely on Patreon or Itch bundle sales.
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Some developers have been forced to leave the platform and seek more niche but riskier payment methods (such as crypto, Pixiv FANBOX, and Gumroad).
One developer commented on Reddit: “We’re not facing legal scrutiny now, but rather banks controlling whether our games can be sold.”
Catalyzing the call for “decentralized distribution”
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There is a market demand for more “free” and “uncensored” gaming platforms, such as:
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Developers are turning to distributed sales platforms (such as Itch self-hosted)
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Exploring the use of crypto payments, NFT platforms, and other methods to circumvent traditional payment gateways.
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Open-source gaming platforms or independent launchers are gaining traction.
Risk Control Becomes a New Challenge for Platforms
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For Valve and Itch, this incident reflects the following:
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Content Risk = Financial Risk
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Game distributors must strike a more careful balance between “creative freedom” and “payment risk control.”
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If platforms continue to implement “soft ban” policies, they risk losing core developers and user communities.
Potential Impacts (Forecast)
| Direction | Possible Developments |
|---|---|
| Platform Policies | Further Restrictions on Keywords, Covers, and Content Categories (Even if the content is not illegal) |
| Developer Migration | Small, independent adult game teams will turn to building their own platforms or adopting a subscription-based funding model. |
| Financial Intervention Trend | Payment platforms will gradually expand their power to review private content on content platforms. |
| Laws and Protests | Developers or organizations may launch legal or public opinion campaigns against the “payment monopoly + content censorship” policy in the future. |
The purge of adult content from Steam and itch.io marks the entry of the gaming industry into an era of “payment-driven content regulation.” This is not only a moral issue, but also a substantial intervention of “financial censorship” in creative freedom.