Itch.io bans adult content: New restrictions on NSFW games explained
▼ Summary
– Itch.io abruptly removed adult content from search and browse pages due to pressure from payment processors, leaving developers uncertain about their earnings.
– The crackdown was influenced by an Australian anti-porn group, targeting adult game creators without clear initial guidelines on prohibited content.
– Itch.io later clarified banned content, including non-consensual themes, underage content, and certain fetishes, narrowing acceptable boundaries significantly.
– Developers and critics argue the restrictions overreach, targeting legal but controversial content and potentially threatening LGBTQ+ and transgressive art.
– A counter-campaign has emerged, with developers and gamers urging payment processors like Visa and Mastercard to stop limiting free speech.
Itch.io has implemented sweeping restrictions on adult content following pressure from payment processors, leaving many developers scrambling to adapt. The sudden policy shift caught creators off guard, wiping entire categories of games from visibility without warning. While the platform has since clarified its new guidelines, the updated rules impose strict limitations that significantly narrow what types of mature content can be sold.
The changes stem from demands by payment providers influenced by an Australian anti-pornography advocacy group. Itch.io’s revised content policy now explicitly bans several themes, including non-consensual scenarios, underage depictions, incest, bestiality, and extreme fetishes involving bodily waste or harm. While some prohibitions align with widely accepted legal and ethical boundaries, others—like restrictions on niche fetishes—have sparked debate over artistic freedom and personal choice.
For developers, the abrupt enforcement has been disruptive. Many spent months or years crafting games only to find them suddenly unsearchable, cutting off revenue streams overnight. Though the clarified rules offer a path for compliant adult games to return, the criteria remain stringent. Critics argue the restrictions go beyond preventing illegal material, instead policing consensual adult themes under vague moral grounds.
The controversy echoes broader concerns about payment processors acting as de facto content regulators. Industry figures like Robert Yang and Jenny Jiao Hsia warn this could set a dangerous precedent, with conservative groups leveraging financial systems to suppress LGBTQ+ narratives and other marginalized voices. Activists have mobilized campaigns urging Visa and Mastercard to reconsider their influence over creative expression, framing the issue as a free speech concern rather than mere content moderation.
While platforms like Itch.io and Steam have long prohibited real-world explicit material, the latest crackdown extends to fictional and animated works, raising questions about where lines are drawn. As debates over censorship and corporate oversight intensify, the fallout highlights the fragile balance between platform policies, financial gatekeepers, and artistic independence in digital marketplaces.
(Source: PCGAMER)
