Mastercard has broken its silence after being thrust into the middle of a gaming culture war between anti-porn advocates and anti-censorship activists. While Valve previously laid blame for a recent purge of adult sex games from Steam at the feet of “payment processors and their related card networks and banks,” Mastercard released a statement on Friday denying any responsibility for a new wave of censorship that’s recently led some gamers to flood payment company call centers with complaints.
“Mastercard has not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations,” the company wrote in a statement published on its website on August 1. “Our payment network follows standards based on the rule of law. Put simply, we allow all lawful purchases on our network. At the same time, we require merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content.”
Mastercard and Visa have been on the receiving end of an anti-game censorship backlash after anti-porn group Collective Shout claimed victory in a write-in campaign targeting payment company CEOs for allegedly profiting off of what the group called “violent pornography.” Critics of the move recently told Kotaku they’ve been calling the companies multiple times over the last week to complain about Valve and indie game shop itch.io purging seemingly legal NSFW content from their platforms over fears of reportedly being dropped by Mastercard and others.
To be clear, Mastercard doesn’t say it hasn’t been involved at all, just that it’s gone no further than enforcing its existing guidelines against “unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content.” But a renewed crackdown on those requirements, which can be vague in practice, has resulted in Valve and itch.io delisting anywhere from hundreds to thousands of games they worry could get it in trouble with Mastercard and others.
Earlier today, itch.io founder Leaf Corcoran announced the indie storefront is bringing back delisted NSFW games that were free, but is “still in ongoing discussions with payment processors” over paid content which will be reintroduced “slowly.” It could suggest the recent call-in campaigns castigating the credit card companies have changed the calculus for the companies involved. It certainly sounds like Mastercard regrets ever being dragged into this fight, even though it’s the one in the driver’s seat.
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