Itch is now de-indexing all adult games.
I get a lot of traffic from people browsing Itch, so this, combined with Steam heavily restricting adult content just as I'm planning to try to bring SS to that platform, is gonna be a big problem. I am committed to finishing what I start, but...this is really bad, guys, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. While I can continue making money through Patreon for now, if that ends, it will be curtains for us.
On top of that, I've always had weak discoverability and slow (but steady) growth, so losing the biggest driver of new players is a big hit to me. More than ever, if you like the games I've made, it's really helpful if you can share them, talk about them, or reccommend them to people in any relevant communities. I don't expect you to horny post about the game on main, but if you see someone on Reddit or F95 or somewhere asking for recs, give your old pal Artisan a little plug at least, okay?
And of course, please sign this petition. We shouldn't let banks decide what adults are allowed to buy. If these project 2025 anti-porn freaks want to make something illegal, they should have to pass a law, not do an end-run around the constitution by appealing to payment processor execs.
Thanks guys.
Mastercard: Sex Work is Work. End Your Unjust Policy. (Aclu)
Comments (8)
Are there not other payment processors that itch or steam can switch to? I get that Visa and Mastercard control the vast majority of the market (and isn’t that just dandy), but not all of it.
There are actually payment processors that specialize in adult content, but they have high fees. I don't believe the non-adult ones will work with companies that also use the adult ones though, it's sort of cartel behavior, honestly. I don't know all the details.
From what I was reading itch.io is just covering there own ass. They will be updating their terms of service to something closer to what Patreon already has. Temporarily they are blocking the search of all adult content. And then targeting Rape, Incest, and Child abuse. So as long as the games you play aren't raping your little sister. You should be fine
They just put out a statement after they received a lot of backlash on social media, but I don't think it was an accident they sneakily deindexed all adult games in the middle of the night (for most of their users) without comment. And at any rate, Itch already takes down illegal content, these takedowns are from payment processors who are responding to activitist freaks who are trying to ban content without doing the hard work of writing laws. They will always say it's for the kids, but these idiots are the same people who think the existence of trans people constitutes grooming, and everytime they get their way, they just end up pushing harder the next time.
The amount of bullshit people have a right to show what they want as long as they take the reasonable precaution to lable it 18+ it literally counts as free speech same way it's bullshit I need a VPN because I live in texas
Steam and itch.io should consider switching to stablecoin payment methods to replace these evil credit card organizations, visa and MasterCard should be replaced
It's Australia Fault,Itch io And Steam It's Australiaed Now.
This sucks. I wish I could give you hope in some way but this is a trend that I don't see being stopped. The people who could are using it as a justification to push other shitty stuff through. I love your work even if I rarely comment and don't play every build. If you have to move I will do my part to follow and let others know about it, but I fear for you.