2025-08-03T02:11:33Z

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Imagine waking up to find thousands of adult video games wiped from your favorite gaming platform overnight! That’s exactly what happened recently when Steam, the giant in digital game distribution, enforced a new rule that led to the mass removal of games after a campaign led by the Australian group Collective Shout.

This group targeted a controversial genre of games that included themes of interactive rape and incest, claiming these games perpetuate misogyny and violence against women. While Collective Shout heralded this as a victory for ethics, many game developers and fans cried foul, decrying the move as an overreach and a dangerous precedent for censorship.

The uproar began when Steam updated its policies to align with the stringent standards of payment processors like PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard. With a mere two weeks passing since the rule’s announcement, hundreds of titles, including shockingly named games like *Slave Doll* and *Sex Adventures: Incest Family*, were unceremoniously pulled from the platform.

But the controversy didn’t stop there. Following Steam’s lead, itch.io, a smaller storefront, also yanked all games marked as “not safe for work” (NSFW), claiming it was necessary to meet the demands of payment processors. Their founder, Leaf Corcoran, stated that a full update to their adult content policy was necessary before any games could return to the platform.

Under the new guidelines, specific types of content, such as themes involving “rape or coercion” and “incest,” would be strictly prohibited. This led to widespread backlash, with many in the gaming community arguing that this was an example of corporate censorship infringing on their rights. A Change.org petition opposing the changes has already gathered over 200,000 signatures, a number boosted by notable figures like Elon Musk, who publicly supported the fight against censorship.

Collective Shout’s Caitlin Roper articulated the group’s stance, stating that the games in question normalize harmful attitudes that can lead to real-world violence against women and girls. Yet, the criticism of their campaign has been harsh, with Roper and her colleagues facing threats of violence themselves, complicating the already tense debate over freedom of expression in gaming.

Despite the uproar, voices like Brendan Keogh from the QUT Digital Media Research Centre raised an important point: the overwhelming influence that payment processors hold over what content is available on digital platforms. They possess the power to dictate what people can or cannot purchase online, a challenging reality for many creators.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) also chimed in, expressing concerns that these sweeping changes could disproportionately affect marginalized developers, particularly those in the queer, trans, and POC communities. While they condemned games that fetishize violence, they argued that the blanket ban jeopardizes the livelihoods of innocent developers.

Despite the backlash, Collective Shout maintains that their mission is focused; they are not against all adult content but are specifically targeting games that portray sexual violence. Melinda Tankard Reist, the movement director, reaffirmed their commitment to their cause, stating that the threats they have received will not deter their efforts.

This saga poses a critical question for the gaming community: where do we draw the line between protecting free speech and safeguarding against harmful content? As the debate rages on, it’s clear this issue will continue to stir emotions and provoke thought about the future of gaming and expression.