Users of itch.io were shocked to discover this morning that the platform has “deindexed” games that have been deemed NSFW. Basically, certain games are now hidden from people attempting to search or browse for them. Unlike the recent crackdown of games with adult content on Steam, itch.io has directly addressed the controversy in a statement posted to its website. In the statement, itch.io confirms what many had suspected happened with Steam; a group called Collective Shout launched a campaign against both platforms, targeting the payment processors that allow them to do business. If these allegations are accurate, Collective Shout is basically censoring content on these platforms.
“This is a time critical moment for itch.io. The situation developed rapidly, and we had to act urgently to protect the platform’s core payment infrastructure,” the company wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, this meant it was not realistic to provide creators with advance notice before making this change. We know this is not ideal, and we apologize for the abruptness of this change.”
The statement from itch.io notes that all of this has come about as the result of a game called No Mercy, which was banned from the platform several months ago. No Mercy featured content dealing with rape and incest, and that generated a lot of publicity at the time. While the game has not been available on Steam or itch.io for a while now, the controversy seemed to give Collective Shout an opportunity to launch a campaign against the two platforms. As a result, countless additional games are no longer available for purchase.
A “comprehensive audit” is now underway at itch.io, and the statement makes it clear that some games will end up being “permanently removed” in order to comply with the demands of payment processors. The developers of these games will be sent an email notifying them of the removal. Unfortunately, it sounds like creators were not given advance notice prior to the deindexing. It’s also not clear exactly what content is being deemed NSFW, which is causing a significant amount of confusion. While itch.io has been a lot more transparent compared to Steam last week, there has still been a lot of frustration directed towards the company over its handling of the situation.
It’s impossible to say how many Steam and itch.io users were actually buying this adult only content, but users see this as a slippery slope that will allow groups to target any type of content that they have an issue with. If sexual content is a problem, that could inevitably lead to games like The Witcher III: Wild Hunt being banned, or Cyberpunk 2077, or even the next Grand Theft Auto. Fans have also raised concerns about games that feature LGBTQ+ content being targeted, which could result in games like Celeste or A Normal Lost Phone being removed from platforms. Right now, Steam and itch.io users have a lot of reasons to be concerned with how things are being handled.
Are you concerned about games being targeted like this? Do you think itch.io is doing enough to combat censorship from outside parties? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
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