Mastercard denies that it is putting restrictions on what games can be sold through stores such asSteamandItch. This comes after both storefronts removed and restricted adult games being sold through their services,citing pressure from payment processorssuch as Mastercard.
In a statement, Mastercard makes no mention ofthe anti-p*rnography group Collective Shout, who has admitted to getting services like Mastercard, Visa and PayPal to threaten to pull support from stores that are selling games that contain “sexualised violence and torture of women”. However, the statement alludes to these claims, as it states that it has “not evaluated any game” being sold any site or platform.
Mastercard Responds To Claims That It’s Blocking Steam And Itch From Selling NSFW Games
“Mastercard has not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations,” thestatementreads. “Our payment network follows standards based on the rule of law. Put simply, we allow all lawful purchases on our network.”
Mastercard then elaborates on what it will object to. “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.”
The phrase “illegal adult content” is the issue here. Since both Steam and Itch have cited disputes with payment processors in its reasoning for pulling games from their service, it does seem that Mastercard and others put their foot down on something. However, Mastercard says that it did not review any of the games itself, and would only pull support from Steam and Itch if the games on their platforms were against the law.
With that said, we don’t know if any of the affected adult games were actually illegal. Even the most infamous game, No Mercy (which centres around r*ping women), may be legal in many regions, although it wasclaimedthat it could be illegal in the UK. Still, that is just one example - and No Mercy was voluntarily pulled from stores before all of these other titles were banned. So, it’s possible that Collective Shout told Mastercard and others that it believed Steam and Itch were selling illegal adult games, prompting the storefronts to take preventative measures to avoid having their buisnesses distrupted.
As it stands, Steam’s terms of service now state thatgames can be removed from the store if payment processors object to their sale. Itch had deindexed all of the NSFW games on its site, but isre-indexing free-to-play titles, andhopes to have a solution for all adult games soon.
