Frankly, it's insanity. Anyone who thinks this is a positive is an idiot. It might not be the games you're interested in today, but where's the line? There are a lot of legitimately good games that could very well get caught up in this nonsense before long.

Nah, the only reason sites like Itch or even Only Fans can exist and sell stuff is because they are kinda working hidden, underground or with a tiny signature which is sufficiently low for not being considered of any serious "threat" for anyone being offended... including payment companies. So those tiny or hidden sites are usually "barely accepted" but if it would become any bigger, more visible or with higher dominance... the acceptance may end pretty quick.

It would still be wise for Itch, JAST USA and other sites to accept additional methods such as Paysafecard because it may happen that the tolerance from the "well established" payment companies may still end someday. Naturally, the smaller payment companies are a bit more tolerant due to different reasons, as well because they are not being targeted by "moralizer apostles" so much who are trying to contact and "inform" those with the biggest power most excessively.

I mean, males are dying in countless wars like flies in a cowshed with way lower life-expectancy worldwide and this is apparently perfectly acceptable for them, but if a few of their "preferred species" will ever become harmed, in rare cases even killed, because of mainly hostile males (not sure they ever said there was a hostile woman involved)... who are maybe affected by bad media (and surely not because of much bigger social issues), then it is gonna be a serious issue, it seems. Those one sided views of those radical groups, completely egocentric in nature with the usual double standards can not last the test of time and can not serve as a ultimate truth for humankind as a whole; so i am afraid to spell out that i do not see to much value in it. If the matter is not clearly understood in a true and bigger scale, then it is better to stand in for the "collective freedom" because freedom is extremely valuable: I would not trade it in with a bit of higher security. Since we had so many crisis, what we was losing the most was freedom and the oppression is higher than ever. No one will win in such a environment with lack of trust and permanently trying to only value the dignity of certain groups while neglecting the dignity of others to a certain extend.

According to what i know, on Steam, perhaps even Itch and many other sites; they was banning up to several thousand "adult medias, in this case games" but it was only affecting a minority of the whole cookie and most likely only "the most offending ones". Sure, up to this point "not much of value has been lost" which i do agree on that term. Although, the story is not over yet: It may become a bigger issue in the near or even far future where it could indeed lead to some losses i may consider "of value". The "wave" it may create is the thing i do worry the most and not "the current state of things".

Now that it's happened to TWO storefronts you can definitely expect the same with GOG. I would never play a single one of the games that have been delisted, but sooner or later this is quite obviously going to affect games with any kind of "adult" content at all; eventually they're going to try and create an argument against literally any ESRB-M / PEGI 18 game. From what I've heard, Collective Shout attempted to remove Detroit: Become Human as well, which isn't remotely a porn game. They operate under the veil of "protecting women" but t's frankly baffling what their true agenda is.

The avalanche is well in motion. As said, itch.io is the next victim.

Remember this month of 2025 in a couple of years so you know how it started. Once it inevitably expands from just "degen stuff" to "anything I don't like".

EDIT:
Japan actually seems to be taking action. Potential lawsuit against VISA

Well with Itch caving to the demands of VISA and MASTERCARD
the suspicion is absolutely clear that GoG might be under pressure next.

I just hope they wont give into the demand, this whole thing and Steam as well
as Itch following the demands of payment processors sets quite the dangerous
precedence for "future" censorship.

So it would be nice to see a offical statement of the staff or CDP for that matter
(because in the end CDP will decide)

all i can say is

please do not give in to the blackmail demands of VISA and Mastercard
instead go ahead and provide alternative payment methods if necessary
(massive opportunity for some growth??)

and yes it DEFINITLY will not stop at just adult games that are "edgy"
this is the important step to set up future censorship "blueprints"
When money companys are allowed to decide what WE as customer buy
or not buy... ye that ain t gonna end well

Honestly, that's an pretty dumb argument :

"There was no robbery in this bank; the cashiers willingly decided to give those persons all the money, of course under some pressure (of several guns), but it doesn't matter, I reckon that they decided to give all the money in the bank so that they can continue living. Make sense to me..."

Those arguments and others in previous posts are exactly the same I heard some years ago when it was about banning "violent" video games.

"Why did Rockstar and Activition play with fire by creating games like "GTA", "Call of Duty"etc...", "Playing those violent games cannot be healthy in the long run, it will make peoples more violent and aggressive", "only total degenerates could enjoy those murder simulator", etc... or the good old "You are over reacting about the a ban of violent video games, only a minority of games would be impacted"

You say you don't like censorship but being anti-censorship means being against it even if you don't like / despise the things that are being censored, not just being anti-censorship when it impact things you care about.

Personally I consider those more extreme/edgy games as being canaries in the coal mine, as long as they are being sold things are fine, but as soon as they get censored, especially if it is not by law but because of pressure of some crazy Australian banshees, then it becomes a very serious issue; how long before somebody else find another "centuries old taboo subjects that is internationally unaccepted" that needs to be censored.

Given what happened with Devotion, I wouldn't hold my breath...

That said in this case I doubt they could do anything, if a company as powerful as Valve had to cave in immediately I doubt Gog would be able to do anything if they want to survive. The only positive I would see is that AFAIK none of the games that Gog is selling have been removed from Steam...yet.

But yes I really hope that VISA & MC attacking Steam and now itch.io will at least managed to raise awareness on the danger and abuse of power from payments processors and the necessity to either regulate them or offer alternatives.

As many other forum members have said, the crux of the matter isn’t whether games that touch on certain taboo topics are banned, but that sooner or later this will extend to all topics these activists deem censorable (and we all know how long their list of "offensive" things is).

No doubt, tomorrow we could see Kingdom Come 2 being censored because women aren't properly represented, or Cyberpunk 2077 because it has prostitutes, etc.

Anyone cheering bans and instances of self censorship already taking place over this have no idea at all of what it is they're cheering for.

As a gay dude who was starting to find it really quite tiresome having to scroll through page after page of tits and ass, and wished all these NSFW games could be hidden or opted out of, I now actually feel that their right to exist and be sold on GOG and elsewhere is more important than ever.

A tiny cabal of payment processors should not have the authority or the influence to dictate the kind of media that is sold on the majority of the internet, particularly when those companies' demands are made at the behest of puritanical conservative groups. As others have rightly pointed out - what's next on the chopping block? Any and all references to sex? Fictional portrayals of violence?

Nobody should blame Steam, itch.io or GOG for this. The blame is squarely on the shoulders of payment processors and socially conservative lobbyists.

From where I'm standing, it'd make no difference if they'd be made by progressive groups or anything in between, it's the very idea of this happening that's the problem.
Oh, they should be blamed for not pushing back. And the first problem is giving in quietly, not speaking out, making big announcements about why and how they're forced into it, point out just this slippery slope, ask for support in a pushback, and in case of Steam use their lobbying power directly.

Itch.io at least has issued a statement, and I agree they should all make a big deal about it publicly, but they basically have to capitulate in the short-term. What's the alternative? The storefront refuses to remove the games in question, Visa/MC pull their support, the storefront scrambles to switch to payment methods barely anyone uses and then ... goes out of business?

Steam could probably afford switching to other methods at least for a period.
On the other hand, as I said above, I doubt itch can afford giving in much more than not doing so, seeing as removing those games quite clearly means losing the large majority of their income.