https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/valve-confirms-credit-card-companies-pressured-it-to-delist-certain-adult-games-from-steam/

[] Skip to main content
(*) ( )
Open menu Close menu
 PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
[ ] Search
Search PC Gamer [                    ]
Sign in

  * 
  * View Profile
  * Sign out

Subscribe
        
US Edition
flag of US
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia

  *  
  * Games
  * Hardware
  * News
  * Reviews
  * Guides
  * Video
  * Forum
  * More
      + PC Gaming Show
      + Software
      + Movies & TV
      + Coupons
      + Magazine
      + Newsletter
      + Community guidelines
      + Affiliate links
      + Meet the team
      + About PC Gamer

 
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?

  * Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  * Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  * Issues delivered straight to your door or device

From$32.49
Subscribe now
Popular

  * Essential Hardware
  * Microsoft
  * Dune: Awakening
  * AI
  * PC Gaming Show

Recommended reading
 
A vampire holds an ace of hearts
Platforms Steam's got a new rule that puts the kibosh on 'certain
kinds of adult only content' that make Visa and Mastercard sad  
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
Platforms Modder behind the 'Swiss army knife of PC gaming' deletes
their 20 year-old Steam account with anti-Valve manifesto: 'By the
end of my bitter dealings with Valve... there was zero hope'  
Valve logo with a man with a steam valve for an eye.
Gaming Industry Update: Valve only blocked a creepy fascist Mount and
Blade: Warband mod in South Korea, not worldwide, and the mod's own
author took it down entirely  
Ready or Not screenshot - SWAT cop apparently startled by a woman
standing behind him, seen through her legs
FPS As fans lose it over sanitised nudity and violence, Ready or Not
devs promise they haven't changed their 'creative vision': 'We've
only made changes where absolutely required'  
Tub Geralt, just chilling in his tub.
Gaming Industry Founder of world's biggest mod site hits back at fans
angry about upcoming age verification for NSFW mods: 'The law is the
law and Nexus Mods will, and must, follow the law'  
Steam Summer Sale 2025 games collage
Platforms As the Nintendo eShop fails to protect from 'eslop', indie
devs reflect on how it affects their work and why Steam is just
better: 'Their algorithm will more or less naturally bury AI slop'  
Borderlands 4 teaser image
FPS Borderlands series briefly review bombed on Steam for extremely
flimsy reasons

 1. Software
 2. Platforms
 3. Steam

Valve confirms credit card companies pressured it to delist certain
adult games from Steam

News
By Joshua Wolens published 18 July 2025

It's not a great precedent, that's for sure.

  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate
commission. Here's how it works.

Best sex games - Ladykiller in a Bind
(Image credit: Love Conquers All)

It's Mastercard's world; we just live in it. That's my understanding
based on a recent communique from Valve to PC Gamer, which confirmed
that, yup, the company sure did recently remove a whole spate of
adult games from its storefront because it made payment processors
upset.

"We were recently notified that certain games on Steam may violate
the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their
related card networks and banks," said Valve. "As a result, we are
retiring those games from being sold on the Steam Store."

Valve's reaching out to devs impacted by the change "and issuing app
credits should they have another game they'd like to distribute on
Steam in the future." Just, you know, so long as those games get the
seal of approval from Valve's payment processors, I suppose.

Related articles

  * A vampire holds an ace of hearts Steam's got a new rule that puts
    the kibosh on 'certain kinds of adult only content' that make
    Visa and Mastercard sad
  * Team Fortress Spy being shocked Modder behind the 'Swiss army
    knife of PC gaming' deletes their 20 year-old Steam account with
    anti-Valve manifesto: 'By the end of my bitter dealings with
    Valve... there was zero hope'
  * Valve logo with a man with a steam valve for an eye. Update:
    Valve only blocked a creepy fascist Mount and Blade: Warband mod
    in South Korea, not worldwide, and the mod's own author took it
    down entirely

To be fair to the house that Gabe Newell built, I don't think it has
much of a choice. Valve explicitly said that it was removing the
offending games "because loss of payment methods would prevent
customers from being able to purchase other titles and game content
on Steam." It seems quite clear to me from those kinds of statements
that Valve's chafing a little under payment processor tyranny, but I
suspect even Steam can't really go toe-to-toe with the likes of Visa
and Mastercard.

Valve didn't say which games, specifically, have been yoinked off
Steam as a result of the credit card companies throwing their weight
around, but I don't think it takes Poirot to put this one together.
As we noted in our original piece on Steam's new rule forbidding
content that might upset its payment processors, the appearance of
the new regulation in Steam's documentation coincided with the sudden
disappearance of a bunch of adult games with a, um, theme of keeping
it in the family.

Best sex games - A succubus gives sex advice over the internet

(Image credit: NomnomNami)

There are some games that still have that focus on Steam's
storefront, so I suppose we can't say for certain that it's what
raised processors' hackles, but I think it's a safe bet anyway.

One thing we can say for certain: the simultaneous delisting of a
Chinese, Phoenix-Wright-esque game from Steam apparently had nothing
to do with the new rule. Trials of Innocence disappeared from Steam
at the same time as the adult stuff got culled, leading some to
theorise that it had been accidentally caught in an overzealous net.
But the devs have now confirmed that the game has been "temporarily
taken down due to a DMCA claim." So that's something, I suppose.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals,
as picked by the PC Gamer team.

[                    ][ ]Contact me with news and offers from other
Future brands[ ]Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted
partners or sponsors[Sign me up]
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions
and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Credit card processors are incredibly touchy about adult content
online. Not only is it a magnet for scams and chargebacks, but
they're still reeling from the time a few years ago when popular
adult site PornHub was found to be hosting content featuring underage
and non-consenting performers (processors severed their links to the
company, which continues to this day).

Of course, Steam doesn't allow explicit content featuring real people
on its service. All the adult content on its platform is animation of
one form or another, and yet apparently payment processors are
jittery even about that. It feels like an incredibly bad precedent to
set; if I want anyone deciding what I can or can't buy on Steam, it
sure as hell isn't Mastercard.

2025 gamesBest PC gamesFree PC gamesBest FPS gamesBest RPGsBest co-op
games

2025 games: This year's upcoming releases
Best PC games: Our all-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Best co-op games: Better together

TOPICS
Valve
Joshua Wolens
Joshua Wolens
Social Links Navigation
 
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family
computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been
irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in
Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much
anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual
novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs,
immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He
thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Read more
 
A vampire holds an ace of hearts
Steam's got a new rule that puts the kibosh on 'certain kinds of
adult only content' that make Visa and Mastercard sad
 
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
Modder behind the 'Swiss army knife of PC gaming' deletes their 20
year-old Steam account with anti-Valve manifesto: 'By the end of my
bitter dealings with Valve... there was zero hope'
 
Valve logo with a man with a steam valve for an eye.
Update: Valve only blocked a creepy fascist Mount and Blade: Warband
mod in South Korea, not worldwide, and the mod's own author took it
down entirely
 
Ready or Not screenshot - SWAT cop apparently startled by a woman
standing behind him, seen through her legs
As fans lose it over sanitised nudity and violence, Ready or Not devs
promise they haven't changed their 'creative vision': 'We've only
made changes where absolutely required'
 
Tub Geralt, just chilling in his tub.
Founder of world's biggest mod site hits back at fans angry about
upcoming age verification for NSFW mods: 'The law is the law and
Nexus Mods will, and must, follow the law'
 
Steam Summer Sale 2025 games collage
As the Nintendo eShop fails to protect from 'eslop', indie devs
reflect on how it affects their work and why Steam is just better:
'Their algorithm will more or less naturally bury AI slop'
Latest in Platforms
 
Steam Summer Sale 2025 games collage
As the Nintendo eShop fails to protect from 'eslop', indie devs
reflect on how it affects their work and why Steam is just better:
'Their algorithm will more or less naturally bury AI slop'
 
A vampire holds an ace of hearts
Steam's got a new rule that puts the kibosh on 'certain kinds of
adult only content' that make Visa and Mastercard sad
 
A screenshot from Everdeep Aurora showing the cat protagonist in the
chambers of a regal rabbit
Five new Steam games you probably missed (July 14, 2025)
 
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
Modder behind the 'Swiss army knife of PC gaming' deletes their 20
year-old Steam account with anti-Valve manifesto: 'By the end of my
bitter dealings with Valve... there was zero hope'
 
Project Silverfish screenshot showing heavily armored soldiers
crossing a bridge
Five new Steam games you probably missed (June 30, 2025)
 
An ROG Xbox Ally X and Ally shown during Microsoft's Xbox stream
in June 2025.
Xbox emulator devs shoot down rumours they're in cahoots with
Microsoft to bring Xbox games to PC: 'What f****** AI ChatGPT stuff
have you been reading?'
Latest in News
 
Final Fantasy 14 character
Final Fantasy 14 warns players that it's time for an upgrade as
Microsoft gears up to end support for Windows 10: 'Support for this
operating system is a difficult proposition'
 
The Razer Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed gaming mouse on a teal deals
background
Don't scroll away! The best wireless gaming mouse is now the cheapest
it's ever been at less than $75
 
A still from a Douyin video showing a robot running down a hill
wearing a peach-coloured shirt and shorts
I am now slightly obsessed with Uncle Bot, a Chinese robot in people
clothes that's rapidly becoming a social media sensation
 
The Aspects faction
Endless Legend 2 has been delayed until September, but at least
you'll be able to play a demo in August
 
The Galax RTX 5090D Hall of Fame XOC (Extreme OC) graphics card on a
smoky background
Keep this to yourself, but a BIOS with a theoretical 2,001 W power
limit exists for this absurdly overbuilt Galax RTX 5090 D
 
Revenant with blood on her face
Elden Ring Nightreign finds a new way to victimise players as
Nightfarers accidentally fight 2 bosses at once: 'They were convinced
I was just being dumb'
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

 1.  
    A pair of PCIe 5.0 gaming SSDs against a gradient red/orange
    background with a PC Gamer Recommended logo in the corner.
    1
    Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I
    will allow in my PC
 2. 2
    Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD
    and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top
    cards
 3. 3
    Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new
    generation head-to-head and we have a winner
 4. 4
    Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and
    these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer
 5. 5
    Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite
    docks, powerbanks and gamepads

 1.  
    An Asus ROG Azoth X gaming keyboard on a desk with wrist rest and
    lighting enabled.
    1
    Asus ROG Azoth X review
 2. 2
    The Drifter review
 3. 3
    Flexispot OC3/BS3 Review
 4. 4
    Shadow Labyrinth review
 5. 5
    Razer Clio review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and
leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  * About Us
  * Contact Future's experts
  * Terms and conditions
  * Privacy policy
  * Cookies policy
  * Advertise with us
  * Accessibility Statement
  * Careers

(c) Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY
10036.

Close

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...

Login Sign Up