Might be losing my only income (VENT)

[author]

I don't know if anyone's heard but itch.io has been removing NSFW and LGBTQ+ games en masse and I'm someone who publishes primarily LGBTQ+ games. They're doing this because a hate group is harassing payment companies like Visa and Mastercard, who are in turn harassing companies like Steam and Itch.io to remove "degenerate games".

Even with itch aside, this is being perpetrated by the damn payment companies. If I become unable to be paid because I make queer work, I'm going to legitimately starve to death. My death will no longer be a choice. I'm honestly panicking a little, and I don't know what to do. I signed petitions, I sent emails, etc, but what else can I do?

Just when I was starting to try and live these hate groups want to take away my life. Fucking forbid I try to live. I'm so tired. Why does everyone hate queer people so much? Why can't they just leave us be? Nothing they're banning is against the law. I'm just trying to live and support myself while doing what I love. I'm disabled and can't work a traditional job but making games is something I can do and now I might have it all taken away on the whims of bigots. I'm so tired. Please just stop...

 

[R. A.]

disgusting. i got wind of this somewhere but didn't realise the extent of the issue.
i don't get something though - visa and mastercard care control a shit ton of the western world's credit services, but they don't have anything to do with, let's say, queer games. you can't even have a credit card without going through a bank, and it is a bank customer who would be itch.io for example

it seems like there are too many degrees of separation between bigot trolls and itch.io for this to be the extent. are there other factors at play? or do i not understand economics [spoiler: i don't]

edit: dw i educated myself

What's Wrong With 'Steam' And 'Itch.io's Payment Processor Updates? The 'Collective Shout' Game Removal Controversy Explained

Gamers are voicing their concerns after Steam and Itch.io updated their rules to fall in line with payment processors, and the finger is being pointed at a group called Collective Shout. Here's what you need to know.

knowyourmeme.com

 

[fernstaysquiet]

The first thing I thought of when I saw the news was all the small creators that would be heavily impacted by this. Now reading your testimony I just want to cry. That's so awful, I'm sorry.

 

[author]

disgusting. i got wind of this somewhere but didn't realise the extent of the issue.
i don't get something though - visa and mastercard care control a shit ton of the western world's credit services, but they don't have anything to do with, let's say, queer games. you can't even have a credit card without going through a bank, and it is a bank customer who would be itch.io for example

it seems like there are too many degrees of separation between bigot trolls and itch.io for this to be the extent. are there other factors at play? or do i not understand economics [spoiler: i don't]

edit: dw i educated myself

What's Wrong With 'Steam' And 'Itch.io's Payment Processor Updates? The 'Collective Shout' Game Removal Controversy Explained

Gamers are voicing their concerns after Steam and Itch.io updated their rules to fall in line with payment processors, and the finger is being pointed at a group called Collective Shout. Here's what you need to know.

knowyourmeme.com

Yeah there's a lot to it. I appreciate you taking the time to look into it. I think what this article doesn't mention is that a ton of games with tags like LGBTQ+, transgender, gay, etc have also been targeted.
I know of several LGBTQ+ creators who have already had to leave itch.io and are scrambling to figure something out, and I'm not far behind doing that myself. I've already noticed one of my games with a trans main character (that doesn't have any adult or sensitive themes) isn't showing up in search, so I think the shadowbans/removals are also hitting anyone who tags their games with anything related to being gay/trans.

A lot of people are pushing back against this though, so I'd like to hope the nonsense dies down soon...

The first thing I thought of when I saw the news was all the small creators that would be heavily impacted by this. Now reading your testimony I just want to cry. That's so awful, I'm sorry.

If it helps (because it's helped me calm down a bit), I've seen a lot of pushback on what's happening. A lot of people are upset, emailing and calling the companies, myself included. I'm just hoping that it does something. If companies so eager to jump on a little hate speech, I hope they're just as eager to backpedal when we fight back.

 

[tormentedhusk]

I don't know if anyone's heard but itch.io has been removing NSFW and LGBTQ+ games en masse and I'm someone who publishes primarily LGBTQ+ games. They're doing this because a hate group is harassing payment companies like Visa and Mastercard, who are in turn harassing companies like Steam and Itch.io to remove "degenerate games".

From what I can gather in the article, Collective Shout is a feminist group campaigning against the sexual objectification of women. There were games about incest and SA on these storefronts, and they shined a light on it.

The companies didn't want to be associated with it and they weren't comfortable with continuing to process payments with these games still there. That would have been a PR nightmare for them. It was also bad optics for Steam and Itch.io, coming under a lot of scrutiny.

To address this and comply with these demands, these storefronts implemented a blanket ban on all NSFW content.

What's Wrong With 'Steam' And 'Itch.io's Payment Processor Updates? The 'Collective Shout' Game Removal Controversy Explained

Gamers are voicing their concerns after Steam and Itch.io updated their rules to fall in line with payment processors, and the finger is being pointed at a group called Collective Shout. Here's what you need to know.

knowyourmeme.com

 

[whywere]

We are ALL the same and we ALL work together. I cannot stand and also cannot figure out why companies and/or people have to think and be this way.

I always tell narrow minded people who are so very quick to judge, "you are only pointing your finger into a mirror".

Judge and be judged, and of course they would NOT like it.

Same as when folks hear about me having mental health issues and either will not want to work with me or roll their eyes at me and of course they have more issues than I ever will have.

I hope and wish the very best for you and I hope also that the powers that be, have an apophenia and wake up and be real humans with real feelings towards ALL.

Walter

 

[author]

From what I can gather in the article, Collective Shout is a feminist group campaigning against the sexual objectification of women. There were games about incest and SA on these storefronts, and they shined a light on it.

The companies didn't want to be associated with it and they weren't comfortable with continuing to process payments with these games still there. That would have been a PR nightmare for them. It was also bad optics for Steam and Itch.io, coming under a lot of scrutiny.

To address this and comply with these demands, these storefronts implemented a blanket ban on all NSFW content.

View attachment 173330

View attachment 173331

What's Wrong With 'Steam' And 'Itch.io's Payment Processor Updates? The 'Collective Shout' Game Removal Controversy Explained

Gamers are voicing their concerns after Steam and Itch.io updated their rules to fall in line with payment processors, and the finger is being pointed at a group called Collective Shout. Here's what you need to know.

knowyourmeme.com

I understand how it could be seen as this but to be honest it's genuinely not in the interest of protecting women, that's just the cover they use.

They tried to harass a woman publicly who brought their hypocrisy to attention for example.

Not to mention this isn't a comprehensive list of removed games from Steam and Itch.io, that's a huge list encompassing many things - including very harmless titles and LGBTQ+ games as well. As I said my own games with lgbtq+ characters (that have absolutely no adult themes or sensitive topics, they are about as wholesome as can be) have been affected and shadowbanned. They don't show up in search, and my account is gone from search as well. I've tested this with multiple people.

It's just like how bigots use the guise of "protecting children" to ban trans healthcare for adults in multiple states (and attempting to ban it for the whole country). Collective Shout is just using "protecting women" are their excuse.

Also, I just want to say that I'm saying this all in good faith to clear up what I think might be a misconception about the situation. I genuinely don't want to argue about it or start anything. I just know what I and many creators I'm close to and follow are experiencing - creators who are LGBTQ+ and don't make adult/sensitive content. Censorship affects everyone, especially when it's being done by bigots pretending they have good intentions... It's absolutely not stopping at "the bad stuff".

 

[R. A.]

how bigots use the guise of "protecting children" to ban trans healthcare for adults

i read more and yup, that is it - it's a trojan horse, the woman leading that group is a catholic porn-hater who probably also is a gay-hater. it's literally the playbook: focus on something completely non-objectionable (child sexualisation, that gross game on steam that honestly sounds like a a piece of shit), and then surreptitiously work in your agenda of "hey u know wat ELSE is bad is anything non-jesus lol".

bullshit tho that steam and itch just blanket delisted everything and are playing catchup later, surely leaving behind totally non-objectionable content in the end. some post was comparing the credit corps to government not beholden to any citizenry. and yeah - we literally live in a corporatocracy. corporations own most of the most powerful governments.
trump is the closest thing yet to a real example of what western democracy ACTUALLY is right now

 

[Foxcompany2nd3rd]

Because you're different and society does not tolerate different. Im autistic neurodivergent and have been treated like the black sheep by groups and society all my life. Ive always felt so lonely because of my autism. I dont think or act like neurotypicals and stand out(negatively) everywhere I go, and I routinely get dog piled on by the neurotypicals. My aura just attracts ill will from the neurotypicals.

 

[Heartaches]

I'm so sorry. I feel your pain. I'm not a game designer, but I'm an LGBTQ+ artist who draws NSFW art, pro-sex work too. The itch.io ban doesn't affect me personally as I never published anything there; nonetheless, it's still a hit that I've felt.

I've seen how many artists in my niche have had their PayPal accounts banned over the last couple of months; how many of their livelihoods have been attacked, if not lost, due to the platforms that have been targeted over the last couple of years.

I've been planning to open NSFW commission for a very long time now. It has never been easy, but now, it feels even more uncertain. Card companies and payment processors simply have an unchecked amount of power.

Even though there have been calls to action, all of this has made me spiral. I feel deeply hopeless.

There's a way, but it's still very uncertain what will happen.

My sympathies to you, my fellow NSFW art peers, the LGBTQ+ community as a whole and sex workers. We all deserve to live freely and thrive in a system that wants us gone.

 

[tormentedhusk]

At the end of the day, they're private entities who can freely associate with whomever they want.

The solution to this lies in alternative platforms, and means of payment, such as other payment processors and cryptocurrency.

 

[author]

At the end of the day, they're private entities who can freely associate with whomever they want.

The solution to this lies in alternative platforms, and means of payment, such as other payment processors and cryptocurrency.

Crypto is inherently unstable, it's not a solution, especially since these payment processors are harassing platforms to remove NSFW, "sensitive content", and LGBTQ+ content. Simply using some other payment method wouldn't change the effect the situation is having on these platforms, the users, and creators like myself.

I've already explained the situation and the toll it's taking on me and many others. I don't think it's fair to not hold private entities accountable for harming minorities on the whims of a hate group masquerading as feminists.

 

[alwaysalone]

From what I can gather in the article, Collective Shout is a feminist group campaigning against the sexual objectification of women. There were games about incest and SA on these storefronts, and they shined a light on it.

The companies didn't want to be associated with it and they weren't comfortable with continuing to process payments with these games still there. That would have been a PR nightmare for them. It was also bad optics for Steam and Itch.io, coming under a lot of scrutiny.

To address this and comply with these demands, these storefronts implemented a blanket ban on all NSFW content.

View attachment 173330

View attachment 173331

What's Wrong With 'Steam' And 'Itch.io's Payment Processor Updates? The 'Collective Shout' Game Removal Controversy Explained

Gamers are voicing their concerns after Steam and Itch.io updated their rules to fall in line with payment processors, and the finger is being pointed at a group called Collective Shout. Here's what you need to know.

knowyourmeme.com

Wtf??? Who is playing incest "games"??? This isn't ok

 

[tormentedhusk]

Crypto is inherently unstable, it's not a solution, especially since these payment processors are harassing platforms to remove NSFW, "sensitive content", and LGBTQ+ content. Simply using some other payment method wouldn't change the effect the situation is having on these platforms, the users, and creators like myself.

Cryptocurrencies don't work like traditional currencies. I recommend checking out these wikipedia articles as an introduction.

Cryptocurrency - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

USDC (cryptocurrency) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Stablecoin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I've already explained the situation and the toll it's taking on me and many others. I don't think it's fair to not hold private entities accountable for harming minorities on the whims of a hate group masquerading as feminists.

The point of private entities is that they can do whatever the hell they want. A private entity isn't accountable to random people the same way a private individual isn't accountable to random strangers.

You're not entitled to anything from a private individual/organization, unless you happen to be a shareholder, involved or part of it in some way, or have contractual ties to them.

In the same way, they aren't entitled to anything from you or any other person.

I don't see how disliking pornography makes a feminist organization a hate group. The companies took this action voluntarily as they were concerned about their public image.

 

[author]

Wtf??? Who is playing incest "games"??? This isn't ok

It's not okay, but bigots are using this list as an excuse to attack literally everyone else...