The UK games industry trade body UKIE has provided a statement to GamesIndustry.biz regarding the recent removal of adult games from the Steam and itch.io platforms.
Last week, itch.io said it had “deindexed” all adult NSFW content from its browse and search pages following pressure from its payment processors. Similarly, Steam has removed several adult-only games and updated its guidelines following pressure from its payment processing partners.
Now, UKIE has responded, directing payment providers and platforms towards existing age rating systems and suggesting that they should have trust in them. The trade body’s full statement is below:
“The UK games industry champions creative freedom while taking its responsibilities to players seriously. Clear and consistent age ratings are a crucial part of helping people make informed choices about the content they engage with.
“That’s why Ukie strongly supports the use of robust classification systems like PEGI across all platforms, including those hosting adult or experimental content. This ensures that content is labelled appropriately, that younger audiences are protected, and that creators can publish with transparency.
“We believe payment providers and platforms alike should have confidence in trusted age rating systems and the enforcement mechanisms behind them.”
Itch.io has pointed towards a campaign by the group Collective Shout as the spark that led to the current situation. “Recently, we came under scrutiny from our payment processors regarding the nature of some content hosted on itch.io,” said itch.io creator leafo in a statement.
“Due to a game titled No Mercy, which was temporarily available on itch.io before being banned back in April, the organization Collective Shout launched a campaign against Steam and itch.io, directing concerns to our payment processors about the nature of certain content found on both platforms.”
On July 11, Collective Shout published an open letter to “payment processors profiting from rape, incest and child abuse games on Steam,” which targeted the CEOs of PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and Japan Credit Bureau (JCB).