Steam tightens adult content rules after pressure from payment giants

Steam has updated its content guidelines and begun removing certain problematic games in response to pressure from payment providers, including Visa and Mastercard.  

Steam's onboarding section on their documentation homepage was quietly updated to include the following in Rules and Guidelines: "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."

As spotted by TheGamer, this triggered a mini-purge according to the Steam Database, with many problematic games such as "Incest Tales", "Wolf on Rail", "Sex Village", "Slave of the Police Officer", and many more, being delisted from the storefront. 

While it's not clear what "certain types of adult only content" entails, it seems that more problematic and fetishistic topics will no longer be allowed on the store.

In a way, it's a good thing because Steam has had a long history of adult shovelware that needed to be dealt with. On the other hand, this now gives payment companies more sway over what is published on the store, effectively dictating what kind of games people get to play. 

This isn't new territory for Visa or Mastercard. Both companies have previously cracked down on adult content on platforms like Pornhub and OnlyFans.

Collective shout's open letter

Earlier this month, Collective Shout, a grassroots campaign movement against the objectification of women in media, sent an open letter to payment processors, including PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard, accusing them of profiting from hundreds of problematic games on Steam.

They urged payment processors to "demonstrate corporate social responsibility and immediately cease processing payments on Steam and Itch.io and any other platforms hosting similar games."

Steam has added a new rule disallowing games that violate the rules and standards set forth by payment processors and card networks, or internet network providers. At the same time, many incest themed games were removed from the store.
byu/HelloitsWojan inSteam