Itch.io has recently removed the majority of adult content from its browse and search pages. This platform is a beloved home for indie games and experimental materials. The decision, made without prior notice to creators, caught many developers off guard and led to significant financial losses overnight.
In a blog post titled "Update on NSFW Content," Itch.io founder Leaf Corcoran explained that the decision was necessary to maintain the platform’s functionality for processing payments. "We need to keep our payment partners satisfied and move quickly towards compliance," he stated.
It follows a campaign by the Australian lobby group Collective Shout, which highlighted explicit material on both Steam and Itch.io to major payment processors. The final straw may have been the adult game No Mercy, which briefly sold on Itch.io only to be banned in April.
Collective Shout’s campaign garnered the attention of companies such as Visa and Mastercard, whose policies prohibit platforms from hosting certain types of NSFW or prohibited material.
According to Corcoran, the situation escalated rapidly, forcing the team to act without warning. “This is a time-critical moment,” he wrote, adding that the deindexing was a necessary step to protect the platform’s core infrastructure.
Although the content has been taken out of view, not everything will be erased. Itch.io is in the process of auditing all adult content, and afterwards, some titles may be reinstated if they comply with payment processor standards.
Developers who depended on the platform for revenue now find themselves in limbo. Most report that they weren’t notified of the policy change and still haven’t been told if customers can access their bought games. No word is also available on when, or even if, affected games will return.
Itch.io has implemented new compliance measures, including a requirement for creators to provide assurance that their work complies with the policies of their account’s payment processors. However, for most, the harm may already have been perpetrated.
The pushback has been immediate. Social media is comparing the move to the 2018 Tumblr porn ban, which resulted in a large-scale user exodus and is widely regarded as a milestone in the site’s fall.
Itch.io’s abrupt shift comes just days after Valve pulled several adult games from Steam under similar pressure. Both instances are indicative of the growing influence of payment processors in determining what can be permitted online.
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Itch.io’s meltdown once again reveals a fatal weakness of the digital economy: the tension between creative liberty and money gatekeeping. Platforms may be supposedly open and creator-centric.
The absence of transparency and unilateral enforcement also sparks concerns over censorship, corporate domination, and the fate of alternative, adult, and edge content on the web. The long-term consequence? A potential chilling effect on creators and a continued constricting of what’s permitted in mainstream digital environments.