My Safeword Is ‘Lost Income’
Let’s address the (censored) in the room.
This shit going down with the payment processors versus gaming is pretty fucked up!
TLDR: Steam and itch.io nuked thousands of NSFW games—many of them legal, consensual, even LGBTQ-themed—because payment processors (Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, PayPal) freaked out after pressure from the conservative advocacy group Collective Shout.
Check out this piece by The Guardian for an excellent summary.
And, to quote Eurogamer, “…whenever a net like this is thrown over an entire area of perceived problematic content, there will be well-intentioned games caught in the net too. Specifically, LGBTQ+ games are under threat - games that don't align with the Christian values underpinning the pressure group Collective Shout.”
Since then, itch.io has started to reindex free adult NSFW content, and they’re “looking for new payment processors.”
The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) released a statement calling for greater transparency and fairness in how adult games are moderated/platformed. (And here’s a PC Gamer piece that picks out the highlights, if a press release isn’t your style.)
Devs, players, and artists are speaking out about the entire debacle, pointing out that this can set the stage for future censorship.
Some folks are just flat out fighting back with chaos.
Vice gaming vertical Waypoint covered the shitstorm earlier this week before management axed the articles. (The author then quit.)
Everyone email Visa and tell them their shit stinks!
The advocacy group—like every one of these watchdog types—is flapping their jaws about “the children,” because, of course, they are. Funny how that’s always the rallying cry, yet 1) they never actually do anything for kids otherwise, and 2) most games are not promoting illegal or harmful shit, so broad-stroke application of vague guidelines serves no one.
Itch did at least explain that they went scorched earth early on because, unlike Steam, their platform has no upload gatekeeping—anyone can toss up a game, no approval needed. Steam, on the other hand, has a vetting process, which gave them more leeway.
Hopefully, this all settles in a way that’s respectful and constructive, without tossing reasonable devs and totally normal games into the fire. And ideally before this crusade spills into other creative mediums.
Hashtag Quick Hits & Shameless Plugs:
New dev spotlight: Our newest community feature.
My "ouch pouch" EDC breakdown: Because you can never be too prepared.
ClapBack series launched: First victim? GameRant's brain-dead listicles. Someone had to say it.
Site glow-up complete: We look fancy now. Like, actually professional. (Don't get used to it.)
Patreon double-feature: Two new posts- because some stories need the extended cut!
Reddit recap dropped: Your fellow nerds have been busy on r/SurvivalGaming
Welcome! A big thank you to our newest Patreon Supporter!
Steam Curator milestone watch: 492 followers and counting toward that sweet, sweet 500. Help me hit it?
Dev Stack
Plugin Highlight: MeshBlend Is Live
ICYMI: MeshBlend for Unreal Engine 5 allows you to blend any mesh with any other mesh, whether it's landscapes, static meshes, or even skeletal meshes.
(Learn how Subnautica 2 used it to help build the game’s world!)
You can learn more about MeshBlend in the documentation or buy it here.
Gamers
The developer of Return: Unknown posted a small gallery of pretty photos. Ironically, the same developer posted a shoutout to the community, wondering why an earlier title (KeepUp: Survival) keeps tanking in reviews despite all the updates they’ve done to the game.
Sunkenland has a new update on the public test branch: features Naval Combat and other new content.
The redesigned Steam Store menu is in Beta. They also updated the Steam Trailer Player! (Also on Beta? This neat Customization feature!)
The Steam sales and events schedule for the first half of 2026!
The StarRupture playtest went live, got extended, and then got another extension until August 11th. They also have an FAQ.
Paleolith has a devlog update, but it’s paid Patreon folk only.
Giant list of new things coming to HumanitZ in the upcoming shift to 1.0. I’m stoked, I love the game.
Blind Descent has a playtest (here’s a video) and an FAQ. It CAN be streamed/made into content.
The Co-Op Beta/Playtest for Occupy Mars is live!
I want to highlight two of my hardcore obsessions!
- Avatar (Speaking of, the game is getting a big update later this year.)
- Imogen Heap (She is criminally underrated and unknown, I love many of her songs, but especially: Xizi She Knows, Run Time(especially at 4:15), and look at these fucking gloves she made.
Dev Stack
Coffee & Code
Epic free learning content for July: non-human digital characters, motion capture, and more.
Use all of Unity 6's profiling tools in the smartest and most efficient way
Game devs on BlueSky were in a tizzy over this redic NY Times piece.
Is the downside to using AI to code losing your brain?
Red Flag
Speaking of AI…
Yanking this image from this BlueSky thread, this seems less than good? (Also, fuck Google.)
Have a Tab
Working out some kinks and ideas for the next issue, so let’s see how it goes.
See you on the flip side, friends. Stay cool!
- Jordan
