Steam'S War On Adult Games: The Ripple Effect Of Censorship on OnlyLikeFans

Steam's New Censorship Wave: A Crackdown on Adult Content

It's been a rocky couple of months since Steam began its crackdown on adult games, a move driven by mounting pressure from payment giants like Visa and Mastercard. Despite fervent campaigns from concerned gamers, the situation remains grim. Developers, players, and even Valve seem caught in the crosshairs of what feels like an escalating battle against adult content across the web.

The uproar started with Steam's decision to delist adult games, inadvertently affecting titles with mature themes, even if they weren't explicitly sexual. Valve's compliance with payment processors hasn't shielded them from issues – PayPal recently withdrew from several countries conducting business on Steam, blaming the controversy surrounding Visa and Mastercard.

Early Access Rejections and Financial Woes

The censorship fight has shifted from existing titles to stifling the launch of new games. The creators of Heavy Hearts, an RPG with risqué content, were recently denied entry into Steam's Early Access. Valve's reasoning? They couldn't support games with "mature themes." The game, which offers a fantasy action experience, still holds a "coming soon" status on Steam.

"Forcing people to get credit cards is very wrong!" reads one incensed Reddit thread.

The developers of The Restoration of Aphrodisia encountered similar rejection, citing nothing in Steam's policies to justify this. An anonymous game developer added to the growing frustration, revealing that PayPal has frozen £80,000 of their earnings from an adult game, citing terms of service violations. They've been grappling with this financial setback for weeks.

Age Verification and the Larger Picture

Steam's reputation is taking a hit, especially in the UK, where new age-verification rules are clashing with gamer sentiment. The UK Online Safety Act mandates age checks to keep minors out of NSFW content. Steam's reliance on credit cards for verification is stirring backlash, particularly from students who lack credit access.

Beyond the immediate chaos, these moves may reflect broader strategies like those outlined in Project 2025 by the Heritage Foundation. The initiative pushes for placing porn liability on companies, not users, potentially leading to sweeping censorship. An anonymous developer captures the essence, "We don't make anything illegal, but when banks say 'no business if you make content X or Y,' it becomes functionally illegal."

The Wider Implications of Steam's Censorship

Steam's measures might seem like just another chapter in the adult game saga, but there's more at stake. As groups like Collective Shout push for stricter content regulation, there's concern about what comes next. Will the censorship expand? If unchecked, today's battle could be tomorrow's broader internet clampdown, affecting liberties across the board.