A wave of removals hit the Steam Store, recently, as Valve revealed certain types of video games would no longer be sold on their storefront. A glance at SteamDB shows that the affected games are of a very particular variety featuring adult content. Valve issued a statement on the delistings, explaining that they were due to potential violations with "payment processors", and in order to continue taking payments for non-adult content, they would be removing those title that do not meet "rules and standards" put forth by companies such as Mastercard, PayPal, etc.

We were recently notified that certain games on Steam may violate the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their related card networks and banks. As a result, we are retiring those games from being sold on the Steam Store, because loss of payment methods would prevent customers from being able to purchase other titles and game content on Steam.

We are directly notifying developers of these games, and issuing app credits should they have another game they’d like to distribute on Steam in the future.

While all of the affected games are of a controversial variety, it has unnerved some, as the newly implemented "rules and standards" that led to the delisting of these titles is vague.

Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult only content.

Source

 

[QuestionEmulation]

Why'd they be next? You can literally mail cash to them...

You're joking right? This thread is about the control that Visa and Mastercard has on the populous on what they decide to purchase. You're now telling me that for a small percentage of people that uses VPN, that people who demands control to see what you're doing and can't see what you're doing... they wouldn't be next???

 

[UltraAziz]

Manga and anime industry is already raising their voices about this in Japan so it already set.

I'm confused about what you mean, is payment processor censorship already a thing in Japan?

 

[QuestionEmulation]

I'm confused about what you mean, is payment processor censorship already a thing in Japan?

Visa Exec Confirms Payment Processing Services Being Halted For Japanese Retailers Selling Adult Content: “It Is Necessary To Disallow It To Protect The Brand”​

https://boundingintocomics.com/mang...ecessary-to-disallow-it-to-protect-the-brand/

If you see my signature, I'm a fan of content from Japan. Some of us are aware of the... overstepping nature of Visa & Mastercard. If only crypto wasn't so volatile

 

[yankii]

You're joking right? This thread is about the control that Visa and Mastercard has on the populous on what they decide to purchase. You're now telling me that for a small percentage of people that uses VPN, that people who demands control to see what you're doing and can't see what you're doing... they wouldn't be next???

They don't, though. Valve removed these games because they wanted to, not just because of payment processors. There's nothing stopping them from restricting the purchase of these games to gift cards to bypass payment processor restrictions, but they didn't and chose to remove them,

And like I said in my earlier comment, VPNs let you mail cash to them, so they can't really be effectively banned by Visa/Mastercard. And there's crypto too, I guess.

 

[retrospect]

You mean like...Grand Theft Auto??

Look up "premise"

 

[Xzi]

They don't, though. Valve removed these games because they wanted to, not just because of payment processors. There's nothing stopping them from restricting the purchase of these games to gift cards to bypass payment processor restrictions, but they didn't and chose to remove them,

That's incorrect. Payment processors have the power to strong arm Valve into complying, because if they don't, they can stop allowing purchases of Steam gift cards as well. A large part of Steam's appeal lies in its convenience and ease of access, they'd lose a ton of customers if the only way to purchase games was purchasing gift cards with cash first.

If Visa and Mastercard are gonna cave to the evangelical church, of all cults, then it is time for payment processing to become decentralized, or for more competition to arise. I'd certainly jump on board with a Valve debit card in a heartbeat.

 

[yankii]

That's incorrect. Payment processors have the power to strong arm Valve into complying, because if they don't, they can stop allowing purchases of Steam gift cards as well. A large part of Steam's appeal lies in its convenience and ease of access, they'd lose a ton of customers if the only way to purchase games was purchasing gift cards with cash first.

If Visa and Mastercard are gonna cave to the evangelical church, of all cults, then it is time for payment processing to become decentralized, or for more competition to arise. I'd certainly jump on board with a Valve debit card in a heartbeat.

They also had the option to let these removed games be purchasable using non-Visa/Mastercard payment methods [including gift cards], but they didn't. It's a little complicated, though.

Or do Visa/Mastercard have an issue with that even though nothing is going through them in this case?

 

[Xzi]

They also had the option to let these removed games be purchasable using non-Visa/Mastercard payment methods [including gift cards], but they didn't.

Right, but like I said: if Visa and Mastercard were to blacklist Steam altogether over that decision, that means everybody would only be able to buy games using gift cards purchased with cash. That would be inconvenient enough that a large portion of Steam's customer base would go elsewhere, like GOG or EGS.

If Valve was serious about freeing Steam from the influence of would-be morality police, they'd have to establish themselves as an alternate payment processor, which would require a massive investment (hundreds of billions, if not trillions) and thus a lot of risk on their part.

 

[yankii]

Right, but like I said: if Visa and Mastercard were to blacklist Steam altogether over that decision, that means everybody would only be able to buy games using gift cards purchased with cash. That would be inconvenient enough that a large portion of Steam's customer base would go elsewhere, like GOG or EGS.

If Valve was serious about freeing Steam from the influence of would-be morality police, they'd have to establish themselves as an alternate payment processor, which would require a massive investment (hundreds of billions, if not trillions) and thus a lot of risk on their part.

I mean, they didn't even try. This will come back to bite them in the ass - I'm sure of it. These people won't stop.

 

[Xzi]

I mean, they didn't even try. This will come back to bite them in the ass - I'm sure of it. These people won't stop.

There is no "try" in this scenario, if Valve had kept those games on Steam against their wishes, they absolutely would've blacklisted the entire platform. There's no one single company or corporation that has enough power to push back against the biggest payment processors, it would have to be a large collective.

That said, it's clear where Valve's red line sits: if extremist nutjobs try to push for the delisting of games just for having any sort of violent content in them, that threatens some 90% of Steam's profitability. Valve would be guaranteed to take drastic action in response to that, whether it be legal action against Visa/Mastercard, or establishing themselves as an alternate payment processor.

 

[kingaz]

Except it isn't true.

So this isn't a conservative Christian organization seeking to impose their cultural norms on society at large as is their wont?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melinda_Tankard_Reist

Get as offended as you want, the facts are what they are.

 

[Deleted member 753700]

so many incels here - baffling they will defend the rape and incest games…

 

[yankii]

So many keyboard SJWs here... Mankind has been saved from drawings!

 

[Deleted member 753700]

So many keyboard SJWs here. Mankind has been saved from drawings!

It’s called empathy g - imagine being a woman knowing men are consuming games about murdering and raping them. Even if it is shit quality. It’s scary. You don’t know this fear as you are a man. Consider the fact it’s not even strangers. Incest too. It could be any man in your life. This is a real fear for many woman. Maybe if you spoke to woman you would understand this.

 

[yankii]

It’s called empathy g - imagine being a woman knowing men are consuming games about murdering and raping them.

IKR, someone should definitely ban GTA.

I keep telling people non-Nintendo games are shit but no one listens

 

[Xzi]

so many incels here - baffling they will defend the rape and incest games…

What you don't seem to understand is that if you're siding with Collective Shout, you're siding with the evangelical church, which is one of the most egregious offenders when it comes to objectifying and mistreating women.

For the umpteenth time: censorship of fictional media isn't helping anyone IRL. If you actually want to make a difference, go volunteer at women's shelters in your country's equivalent of Alabama, because every country has one of those areas.

 

[Deleted member 753700]

IKR, someone should definitely ban GTA.

They don’t have rape in GTA?

Post automatically merged: Jul 21, 2025

What you don't seem to understand is that if you're siding with Collective Shout, you're siding with the evangelical church, which is one of the most egregious offenders when it comes to objectifying and mistreating women.

For the umpteenth time: censorship of fictional media isn't helping anyone IRL. If you actually want to make a difference, go volunteer at women's shelters in your country's equivalent of Alabama, because every country has one of those areas.

I would never step foot in America, there’s no where as awful. And just say your a rapist it’s cool apparently

 

[UltraAziz]

Visa Exec Confirms Payment Processing Services Being Halted For Japanese Retailers Selling Adult Content: “It Is Necessary To Disallow It To Protect The Brand”​

https://boundingintocomics.com/mang...ecessary-to-disallow-it-to-protect-the-brand/

If you see my signature, I'm a fan of content from Japan. Some of us are aware of the... overstepping nature of Visa & Mastercard. If only crypto wasn't so volatile

that honestly sucks, payment services shouldn't be tied to a few companies that can do whatever they want

Post automatically merged: Jul 21, 2025

I would never step foot in America.

did you just not finish the sentence?

 

[yankii]

They don’t have rape in GTA?

You can murder women in GTA apparently

imagine being a woman knowing men are consuming games about murdering and raping them

 

[Xzi]

I would never step foot in America.

You don't need to, I just told you that every country has an equivalent to the state of Alabama. A city/province/area where there's an increased rate of rape, incest, and domestic violence. The UK is no exception.

Making a real difference takes real effort, which I understand might be a foreign concept to you based on the fact that you didn't bother doing any research on the people behind this push for censorship.