Collective shout attacks payment systems for M rated games

[N0t_mINe]

Hi, n0t_mine here. Just here to bring up a topic that poses a threat to all online game purchases.

The following summary is provided by Gemini Ai.

It seems there was a misunderstanding with "3000 letters" – Discord's general message limit is 2000 *characters*, not letters, and often it's closer to 400-500 words for a single message. That's a huge difference!

I can definitely shorten the summary significantly while keeping the core points. Here's a much more concise version, aiming for under 2000 characters and around 300 words, that you can use for your Discord channel:



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**Heads Up: "Collective Shout" & Game Censorship**

Hey everyone, quick heads-up on a recent issue affecting indie games, especially adult-rated ones, on platforms like Steam and itch.io.

An Australian group called **Collective Shout** launched a campaign targeting major **payment processors (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal)**, urging them to stop facilitating payments for games they claimed featured extreme content.

**How Platforms Reacted:**
* **itch.io** acted urgently, temporarily removing *all* NSFW/adult games from search and browse to protect its payment infrastructure.
* **Steam (Valve)** also updated rules and removed some games, citing compliance with payment processor standards.

**The Big Problem:**
* While the campaign targeted extreme content, the platforms' responses have had a **much broader, unintended impact.** Many legitimately rated "adult" games (including those with LGBTQ+ themes or non-explicit sexual content) were swept up in the removals or de-indexing.
* **Key Concern:** This shows that even if a game is legally compliant and officially rated by bodies like ESRB/PEGI, payment processors can effectively act as de facto censors. This lack of clear, consistent rules creates huge uncertainty for developers of mature-themed games.

It's a developing situation that highlights the power payment providers now hold over content distribution.

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