Mastercard has responded to growing concerns in the gaming community by denying that it directly pressured platforms like Steam and Itch.io to remove adult or explicit games. However, the situation is not so simple. Valve, the company behind Steam, says payment processors acted on Mastercard’s content guidelines, leading to tighter restrictions on certain game titles.
In recent weeks, players and indie developers noticed that many adult-themed or controversial games were quietly disappearing from popular platforms. Steam reportedly changed its content moderation policies, and Itch.io followed by removing adult games from its search and browse features.
The gaming community raised questions about censorship, but deeper investigation points to influence from payment processors and credit card networks.
On Friday, Mastercard said in a public statement that it had not banned any games or asked for specific content removals. However, it emphasized that merchants must ensure their platforms do not allow “unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content.”
Valve offered a different explanation, saying Mastercard did not communicate with them directly. Instead, third-party payment processors and banks enforced rules based on Mastercard’s internal brand safety policies. These processors reportedly rejected Valve’s arguments that the games followed U.S. laws, citing risk to the Mastercard brand.
Meanwhile, Itch.io started reviewing its policies after Stripe, one of its payment partners, raised concerns. Stripe mentioned that its banking partners do not support payment services linked to sexually explicit material.
For indie game developers, this situation reveals a bigger issue. Even if a game is legal, it may be blocked from platforms if payment processors find the content risky or non-compliant. Mastercard may not be banning games itself, but its influence over banks and processors plays a big role in what content remains available online.
As the gaming world watches closely, platforms now face the difficult task of balancing payment compliance rules with the need to protect creative freedom for developers.
