Steam's New Rules: Completing Content That Affects Card Companies

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Steam has updated its publisher guidelines and now prohibits “Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks.”

You can read the full guidelines here.

In simpler terms, Visa and Mastercard now have control over what games can be sold on the platform, especially focusing on certain types of adult content. We’ve already seen these changes take effect, with many titles removed, including games like “Sex Adventures – Incest Family” and “Interactive Sex – Daddy Twins Incest.” Essentially, any game with ‘incest’ or ‘slave’ in the title is at risk.

Steam Players Are Worried About Payment Processors’ Power

While this cleanup might help reduce the number of low-quality and problematic games, many Steam users express concern that this isn’t the end of it. The adult industry has faced increasing pressure from credit card networks recently; for example, OnlyFans updated its rules to meet the demands of its banking partners. Similarly, Fansly revised its terms to keep in line with the requests of “our payment processing partners,” while Visa and Mastercard completely stepped away from major adult sites.

Changes like these have upset many Steam users, with some stating that allowing payment processors to influence business practices is a “slippery slope.” There are concerns that Visa and Mastercard will eventually want to eliminate all explicit content. Others, like @daisy-bell on Bluesky, worry that topics like queer history and mental health resources could also be targeted as “adult content.”

Whether you like adult video games or not, this new guideline brings uncertainty that will impact the NSFW game industry—u/atahutahatena.

Steam’s updated guidelines are vague and only mention that “certain types of adult-only content” might be affected, without further details. It’s unclear what payment processors will flag on the platform. Based on past instances, this could end up impacting a large portion of “adult content,” which is a flexible label. For now, though, only a small selection of specific titles has been removed.