It started with a quiet update to Valve’s developer policy. But the implications might echo far louder than most players or creators realize.
Earlier this week, Valve added a 15th clause to its Steam Rules and Guidelines, a document outlining what content developers are prohibited from publishing.
As first reported by Game*Spark and Automaton Media, this new rule is widely interpreted as a response to pressure from credit card companies and banks targeting adult-only content on the platform. The new clause reads:
15. Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult only content.
This language—vague by design—suggests something more troubling than just a new category of prohibited content. It implies that Steam’s ability to host games is now subject to the whims of payment processors like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and the banks behind them.
These third parties are not developers, platform holders, or legislators, yet they now seem to wield editorial influence over what kind of fiction is allowed to be sold on one of the world’s largest gaming storefronts.
What’s Already Happening?
Following the update, SteamDB, a trusted platform tracking Steam’s catalog changes, logged over a dozen games being removed from the platform. Most shared the “sex simulator” tag, with keywords like incest and slavery—the kinds of extreme content that have long existed in niche adult game spaces. But the removals weren’t limited to those.
One notable example, Trails of Innocence, a visual novel inspired by Ace Attorney, was also removed despite lacking overt adult content. While the reason remains unclear, its removal hints at a potentially broader scope of censorship.
The answer increasingly seems to be: not Steam, not developers, and certainly not players—but banks and credit card companies behind the scenes.
This Isn’t Just A Steam Problem
The ripple effect of moral gatekeeping by payment processors has already been reshaping digital marketplaces across Japan.
In late 2024, Melonbooks—a long-running hub for doujinshi, indie games, and anime-related goods—was forced to suspend Visa and Mastercard payments for its online storefront. The reason wasn’t publicly confirmed, but industry consensus pointed to pressure to remove or de-prioritize adult content, regardless of its legality in Japan.
Melonbooks wasn’t alone. That same year, platforms like Skeb, DLsite, Fantia, DMM, and Niconico faced similar disruptions, often resulting in temporary or permanent removal of credit card payment support. The pressure even led to the temporary closure of Manga Library Z, a nonprofit archive for out-of-print manga that ran for 14 years.
After losing its ability to process payments due to adult content flagged by card companies, the site shut down in late 2024—but was successfully reopened in April 2025 thanks to a crowdfunding campaign. Still, it’s telling that a legal archive had to turn to emergency public funding simply to survive being deplatformed financially.
These platforms hosted legal, regionally protected works of fiction—often stylized, sometimes erotic, but not trafficking or promoting real-world exploitation.
Payment processors often cite the need to avoid legal risks and protect shareholders from association with controversial content. While understandable from a business standpoint, this indirect censorship bypasses public accountability and undermines the creative freedoms protected by law.
Industry Voices Are Speaking Up
Even industry veterans are sounding the alarm. NieR: Automata and Drakengard creator Yoko Taro publicly addressed the rising influence of Western payment processors over Japanese content platforms in a post on X:
“The issue of credit card payment companies refusing payments for legal adult content. While regulations exceeding the law have been applied to publishing and other areas, it feels like a different level of danger when payment processors, which are tied to the entire distribution infrastructure, can make such decisions on their own.
“If payment processors are controlled, it could even be used for speech control in other countries.”
He later added:
“It’s not just about adult content regulations or freedom of expression; it feels like there’s a security hole affecting democracy as a whole.”
These remarks were translated and contextualized by Automaton Media, which has closely followed the escalating situation between Japanese content creators and Western financial institutions.
His comments were triggered by the shutdown of Manga Library Z, but they echo across a wide spectrum of platforms: Pixiv, Skeb, Fantia, DLsite, Niconico—all of which have been forced to either bow to financial censorship or abandon credit card support altogether in favor of niche alternatives like e-money, crypto, or convenience store payments.
On X, gamers and creators alike have called this “financial censorship,” with some advocating for cryptocurrency to bypass processor control.
Yoko Taro’s point cuts deeper than content—it’s about control. If private financial institutions can unilaterally shape what kind of legal media is allowed, even across borders, what power do creators really have left?
The Problem With Invisible Authority
The core issue here isn’t about whether extreme adult games belong on Steam. It’s about who gets to decide what content is allowed at all. Valve’s new rule effectively grants enforcement power to companies that don’t operate transparently, don’t explain their standards, and don’t answer to the creators or consumers they impact.
And let’s not ignore the hypocrisy: these same processors still service websites, businesses, and platforms where real-world abuse, trafficking, and questionable practices thrive. Meanwhile, stylized art, game fiction, and collectible character figures are being flagged and punished with greater speed and severity.
This isn’t about legality. It’s about control.
Who Holds The Power?
Steam’s quiet policy change should concern everyone in the digital creative space. Whether you make games, write novels, draw fanart, or collect physical merch, the scope of what’s “allowed” is increasingly being dictated not by law or platform ethics—but by silent, opaque networks that process your payments.
If payment processors get to dictate content, creators are no longer publishing under free expression. They’re publishing under financial permission.
So the real question becomes:
Are we okay with that? If not, it’s worth supporting platforms and creators fighting this creeping financial censorship—and making your voice heard on X and other platforms.
? References
- Steam Rules and Guidelines – Valve
- SteamDB – Recently Removed Games
- Automaton Media – Steam Rules Updated to Prohibit Content That Violates Rules Set Forth by Payment Processors and Banks
- Automaton Media – Melonbooks Becomes the Latest Japanese Platform to Run Into Trouble With International Payment Processors
- Automaton Media – NieR Creator Speaks Out Against Payment Processors Pressuring Japanese Adult Content Platforms
- @yokotaro on X – Original Commentary
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