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Could someone just make, like, Raunchy Mastercard and just process payments from everyone including all the porn and weird shit that the other mainstream companies don’t want? It seems like the payment processors being puritanical dipshits is a weakness that could be exploited by an enterprising competitor.
But then again, we’re talking about a natural monopoly that has been in place for decades at this point. I wouldn’t expect them to exactly play fair.
One of the great mysteries of the 21st century is how a tiny number of US companies control most of the world’s payment processing, when it’s not a technically difficult problem.
You could implement an entire end-to-end payment processing system in a year with a team of a few dozen competent engineers. The only difficulty is getting banks and retailers to sign up to it, but when the big players charge so much and create so much trouble this doesn’t seem like it should be a tough sell. In most cases literally all you’d need to do is charge 2.4% instead of their 3%.
It seemed like every search on Itchio was 70% NSFW results before this move
The comment section of my favorite adult Visual novel is already getting panicked.
Eternum is really really good I swear it’s not just porn
Apparently there is some petition? Taking a look now.
Edit: Yup. Go sign it
Can people please stop using the genocide poem to talk about businesses indpendently choosing to moderate porn games on their platforms? The first time that poem was used, over six million people died. Whereas you just can’t goon on itch anymore.
I get why people are unhappy, but no one will die from this. There is no government mandate. This is tone-deaf and offensive for anyone who has or is currently experiencing genocide. People in my country are being rounded up and disappeared. This is in no way comparable and that poem should not be invoked.
Censorship is always the first step. Genocide is the last step. People getting mad when the first step toward fascism is crossed is a very good thing to fight fascism and try to prevent a future genocide. This is exactly what the poem is about : react on the first step, because it will be too late when the genocide starts.
Yeah they can just start banning media made by and about queer people. Totally fine and won’t hurt anyone or lead to anything worse. That’s certainly not one of the first things the Nazis did…
Finally someone mentions it. It’s just straight up gross to compare. But I will say people getting this mad isn’t as absurd when you have the backstory.
In the context of US; Gay, lesbian, or trans characters existing is enough to label a media under “porn” and states like Florida regularly ban lgbtq+ books using this loophole.
So a lot of people instinctively go on defensive when anyone bans porn.
Also full story wasn’t the business independently chosing to moderate. Another company told them to and game company had to comply.
People are mad an unrelated company out there is trying to regulate what you can’t buy with your money. It just feels weird.
Straight up wholly accurate and applicable. If you don’t understand that basic fact, maybe you need to hear it referenced a few more times…
So can I call the payment providers of the companies I don’t like and complain about them?
Why are they doing a comprehensive audit on the content and not doing a comprehensive audit on new payment providers? I sure would be
Because they would basically die off without the credit card processors, I assume.
Yeah so they should shop around now that theirs seems to be problematic
What I meant is that simply excluding Mastercard and Visa would turn away tons of sales and donations, even if they worked with every other payment processor on the planet at once.
They… could. But it would hurt, maybe even kill Itch.
My biggest issue with this situation is: if they can get away with getting games they don’t like being delisted, where does it end? Delisting books with themes or authors they don’t like? Banning the sale of alcohol and cigarettes?
Honestly haven’t thought so far. But Media lacks that, as almost everything is clickbait.
And you got a point. There is questionable stuff. But killing off a whole area is like a bit shot on a small bird
I mean, crypto is still not the answer so long as it is functionally a speculative asset even after all the proof efficiency improvements… Also it still has centralized points which keyholders could easily leverage.
Miserable fuckers, the whole lot of puritans…
Yall will hate me for it, but porn games should have never been on the main launcher. That’s just asking for trouble. Steam should have a secondary launcher that is just for the adult games, and keep the two seperate. This shit wouldn’t be happening if these games hadn’t been so accessible to people not looking for that in the first place.
Also lets be honest, some of the shit is over the line. There shouldn’t be multiple “Sex with Hitler” games, because as ridiculous as that sounds, normalizing Nazis and Hitler is a fucking virus that does so much fucking harm when spread. Its not just a “silly joke”.
You might have a point on problematic content for the same reason that satire is difficult to pull off, but the entire category of “porn” is WAY too broad of a line to draw, and neither should be otsracized completely simply for existing.
I don’t think adult content should be stigmatized and quarantined. Why is a game about cutting terrified victims open with a handsaw cool, but a game about licking a clit needs to be isolated?
Adult content is opt-in and age verified on steam.
Making an “adult content” launcher would just give more targeted scrutiny. It’s like saying, “here’s the target for you Puritans to attack the whole company over!”
The only way I can think that kind of obfuscation could work would be to have the adult content launcher run through a secondary company under license to use steam software. But then, there’s still the pay processing issue, and that license could violate the processor ToS anyways.
We should go back to sending the cash per physical mail…
Imagine mail-order catalogs of hentai games on CD-ROM, or even cheap flash drives, in 2025.
I get not liking a game about SA and incest, but how about just not play that game?
Reminder they do nohing about all thise fujoshi comics whuch has rape & incest. They like cuties too. So the goal was destroying men"s outlet for sexual pleasure.
Notice they didn’t go after onlyfans
Internet’s memory sure is short. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/19/onlyfans-to-ban-adult-material-after-pressure-from-payment-processors
“They” here is CollectiveShout & they (as in Payment Processors) reversed the ban quickly (Because it affected women). Well Not in this case, this group also campaigned to deny SnoopDogg & Eminem Visas.
Are we still doing phrasing also thank god they’re not coming for the ultra violence and graphic scenes of bodily dismemberment
Collective shout finacials year: 2024 revenue: 458043 employee_expenses: 107000 other_expenses: 215488 net_surplus: 135555 employees: total_fte: 2 full_time: 0 part_time: 1 casual: 4 volunteers: 15 donations_and_bequests: 389800 government_grants: 0 commercial_income: 0 expense_to_revenue_ratio: "70.4%" average_expense_per_employee: 39400 Leadership - name: Melinda Tankard Reist role: Founder, Movement Director public_socials: - Twitter: @MelTankardReist - Instagram: @collective.shout public_email_address: Not publicly listed salary: Not publicly listed - name: Caitlin Roper role: Campaigns Manager public_socials: - Instagram: @collective.shout public_email_address: Not publicly listed salary: Not publicly listed - name: Renee Chopping role: Campaigns Strategy public_socials: - LinkedIn public_email_address: r******@collectiveshout.org salary: Not publicly listed - name: Lyn Swanson Kennedy role: Campaigns Strategy public_socials: - Instagram: @collective.shout public_email_address: Not publicly listed salary: Not publicly listed - name: Coralie Alison role: Movement Operations Manager public_socials: - Twitter: @CoralieAlison - Instagram: @collective.shout public_email_address: Not publicly listed salary: Not publicly listedThis is exactly like the pearl-clutching we had back in the 1980’s around D&D and music lyrics. At least we moved the goalpost from satanic panic and thinly-veiled racism, over to “art that features sexual expression I don’t understand.”
If history is any indicator, their actions are only going to increase awareness of this kind of stuff.
