Steam Censorship Controversy Deepens as Petition Against Visa, MasterCard Surpasses 77,000 Signatures

Steam Censorship Petition (Image Credit: Steam/Canva)

The backlash over Steam’s recent guideline update is intensifying, with a new petition gaining serious momentum across the gaming community.

Titled “Tell MasterCard, Visa & Activist Groups: Stop Controlling What We Can Watch, Read, or Play”, the petition calls out what it describes as corporate overreach and censorship of legal, fictional content.

Just days after being launched on July 17, it has already surpassed 77,700 signatures, with no signs of slowing down.

This growing protest comes in the wake of Valve’s July 16 policy update, which introduced a controversial new clause prohibiting any content that violates the standards of payment processors, banks, or network providers.

While Valve didn’t elaborate on the specifics, the impact was almost immediate. Nearly 100 adult-themed games were quietly removed from Steam, many of which explored taboo topics like non-consensual fantasies, hypnosis, or slavery—despite being clearly labeled for mature audiences and containing no real-life illegal content.

The result? A large chunk of the adult indie developer community—and the fans who support them—are now pushing back.

Fans Say “No” to Corporate Censorship

The petition was started by Zero Ryoko, who accuses payment giants like Visa and MasterCard of censoring fiction under the influence of activist organizations. In the petition’s statement, Ryoko writes:

“MasterCard and Visa are interfering with legal entertainment — often under pressure from advocacy groups like Collective Shout. We demand an end to this censorship of fiction, and the right to choose the stories we enjoy without moral policing.”

The Change.org campaign also calls out the inconsistency in how these financial institutions regulate content.

“These same payment processors allowed platforms like OnlyFans to operate with minimal oversight, despite multiple credible reports and lawsuits alleging the presence of real sexual abuse content involving real-life minors. Yet, when it comes to entirely fictional depictions, these same companies act swiftly — shutting down creators, restricting access, and acting as global censors.”

The statement doesn’t hold back on calling the situation both “blatant hypocrisy” and a threat to “artistic integrity and market freedom.”

The Timeline of a Growing Movement

The petition opened just one day after Valve implemented its updated guidelines. It hit 10,000 signatures within four days, doubled to over 20,000 by day six, and continued surging. By July 25, it crossed 77,770 signatures, with hundreds more being added by the hour.

This explosion of support is fueled by frustrations over how vague the updated Steam rules are—and how they're seemingly dictated by corporate and activist interests instead of platform values.

As one signer commented:

“Adults are capable of choosing what they want to watch, read, or play. Nobody is forced to engage with this content. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.”

Still, the petition is mostly symbolic for now. Platforms like Change.org don’t hold legal power over corporations, but they can be a major tool for public pressure—especially when shareholder concerns and potential profit losses come into play. So far, Valve, Visa, and MasterCard have not issued any official responses to the growing backlash or the petition itself.

Activist Groups and the Industry Divide

A large portion of the criticism is also directed toward Collective Shout, a feminist advocacy group from Australia that has previously campaigned against what it sees as exploitative or harmful sexual content in games and media. Petition supporters argue that such groups often push their moral agenda onto fictional content that’s fully legal and labeled for adults.

“Collective Shout does not speak for everyone. Adults have the right to choose what entertainment they engage with, and advocacy groups should not be allowed to dictate what legal fiction is acceptable.”

While many of the games removed during Valve’s recent cleanup could be categorized as low-effort adult content or “pornographic shovelware,” the concern now is broader: Who decides what’s too inappropriate for fiction—and why are financial companies involved in that decision?

“Fiction is not reality,” the petition concludes. “Let creators create. Let consumers choose. Payment processors and activist groups should not be cultural gatekeepers in a digital age.”

And this debate isn’t limited to Steam. Just yesterday, a similar controversy erupted on Itch.io, where several creators reported that their games were suddenly removed or restricted — again, due to payment processing concerns.