Steam & co are getting off lightly in the VISA, Mastercard row

This article contains adult subject matter, and discretion is advised.

This is a tricky old start to the week when you would rather be writing something about a new Amiga shoot ‘em-up some retro dev is developing.

Last week saw the explosion of vitriol against payment providers after they seemingly strong-armed Steam and Itch.io to delist a load of “adult” content games from the platform, leading to internet outrage that payment providers were now seemingly able to decide what we, as solid upstanding citizens, could spend our money on. 

There have been a lot of arguments that this is censorship by stealth, and we are letting a Trojan horse in where potentially ultra-conservative groups could entirely dictate our lives through the banks and payment systems we rely on due to a lack of competition, which in a modern Western society is a situation that can never be allowed to wash.

This is all entirely true. What options do we have if we can’t pay for something with a Visa, Mastercard, or PayPal? Should we use Crypto? Oh, come on?

These are, of course, the same banks and organizations that have pushed for a cashless society over the years, and this is now more prevalent than ever after Covid. They simply have too much power, and in the same way the likes of Microsoft and Google constantly face antitrust legislation, the argument that the same force of the law be applied to these guys is surely a strong one. But, banks, eh? Not exactly, historically, the most trustworthy of entities.

Payment providers turned custodians of good morals

The payment providers have long been jabbing their fingers in the direction of adult entertainment. Porn sites have often struggled to keep the most used payment options available. While not adult entertainment, banks are now flexing when it comes to crypto purchases, with evidence mounting  that some banks aren’t shy of closing your account if they think you are a risky customer and trade a lot of crypto. Of course, that’s nothing to do with them losing control over the actual money. No. Sure.

But, and here’s my kicker, if this is a Trojan Horse in this particular case, Steam and Itch.io are culpable for opening the gates and letting it in. Not because they should have stood firm and fought off censorship, but because they were prepared to profit from games containing rape and incest content. Thousands of them.

There have been some arguments over the last few days that the banks coming “for our art” is wrong. I am struggling with that art bit. But surely I need to just separate fiction from reality? People playing a game about paedophilia doesn’t mean they are pedophiles, they say. I don’t know enough to know whether that’s true or not; child abuse charities would probably have a solid counterargument. I’d say, just play Doom, surely it’s more fun.

There’s an argument in the video above about the fact that mainstream movies featuring incest are available, and they are, but they don’t touch upon it in a titillating way because it is illegal. If they did, they would not be mainstream. Indeed, I remember when I saw Irreversible, a horrific film that I would never want to rewatch. Nor would I want it banned for the very same reason.

But these games aren’t like that, are they? They are there to make money from a specific type of content based on taking part in acts that are illegal and considered heinous in the majority of the world. Steam and Itcho.io allowed them onto their platforms and took their percentage cuts from sales, and this has given the opportunity for the censorship brigade to roll in. Maybe they would have come for something else if this hadn’t happened. They probably would, but it’s a tough lawyer who argues in defence of “Middle-aged Hero RPG  – Rape Women With Your Authority, and Beat the Demon Lord (2022) [18+]”

That’s a real “game” by the way.

Steam gets hundreds, if not thousands, of games added daily and weekly, and much like the social networks that allow some appalling content to be pushed persistently to children, its seemingly woefully inadequate moderation has brought it to the attention of people who would rather see nothing more edgy than The Lion King.

You see, you can’t actually blame VISA and Mastercard for saying, ‘Hang on, you aren’t using our systems to buy content about rape and incest.’ You can’t just say they have to allow you to buy what you want with your own money. That’s why you can’t buy illegal handguns around the world with Apple Pay. They are a business at the end of the day. But one that has too much power, certainly in my humble opinion.

You can, however, never draw yourself to their attention by making sure you don’t sell unacceptable content, and that is what started this, to make a little extra profit.

What needs to change?

Several things need to change here, and hopefully, some form of all of them will come out of this absolute mess.

The digital storefronts have it easy – you can put your porn games on here if you like, but they can’t be based around illegal material. Steam is not the Dark Web. The issue here is that they have already let the wolf through the door, and the ramifications could be catastrophic. Who’s to say that, if not now, at some point in the future, they take direct aim at other stuff, aimed at ideologies and minorities a boardroom might not agree with? When does Steam take a stand when threatened with having its business cut off?

The payment providers need to be put in their place. As much as they won’t admit it, they work for you and me. They merely facilitate the transfer of my money to somebody I want to give it to. It is none of their business what that is. Just like me handing over cash for an adult magazine in the 80s – the transaction is between me and the old dude in a mac in the dodgy shop.

If, however, that dude in the mac gets shut down by the police because of the content he is selling is illegal, well, that’s on him.

And we, as consumers and human beings, should be saying to Steam and Itch.io, “No, that’s not right, take that down, please.” And if they don’t listen to the masses, then it won’t matter what payment providers they have in place.

We also probably need to stop saying that removing rape and incest content is censorship, because that is not a good look.

This will rumble on for sure.