Who Do You Want Censoring Your Video Games?

Developers and publishers? Governments or governing bodies? Digital distribution platforms? Payment providers? Who do you want controlling what you can and cannot play in the video game industry?

I ask this question, following yet another string of controversies surrounding the censorship of video games.

On Monday, July 28, we received word that Vile: Exhumed had been completely removed from Steam. It was already a controversial title, hoping to address sensitive themes of “stalking and violence against women,” but its use of gore and violence in storytelling were not the reason for its removal from Steam.

In a statement released on Twitter/X, developer Cara Cadaver shared that Steam removed the title due to “sexual content with depictions of real people.”

Vile: Exhumed is not the only game falling victim, with The Guardian reporting hundreds of games being removed following pressure from Mastercard and Visa. This includes Itch.io removing its not-safe-for-work catalog, in its entirety.

This is all a response to the Collective Shout Campaign, a “grassroots campaign movement against the objectification of women and the sexualization of girls.”

In a post on July 11, 2025, Collective Shout directly addressed the CEO’s of PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and more, in a post criticizing the facilitation of profiting from “rape, incest and child sexual abuse game sales.”

In response, several of the major players in the payment processing space strong-armed platforms such as Itch.io and Steam to remove games deemed too offensive for sale.

Collective Shout Celebrating The Removal Of No Mercy From Steam

Previously, after amassing support of a staggering 70,000 signatures, Collective Shout successfully campaigned to have the game No Mercy removed from Steam, a controversial title that Collective Shout describes as a “rape simulation game.”

The developers responded with a post highlighting the popularity of “fetishes” and that the game wouldn’t harm anyone.

The removal of No Mercy on Steam led to the discovery of “almost 500 other games depicting rape, incest, sexual torture, and child abuse.” According to Collective Shout, who called on their supporters to contact payment providers, over 1,000 people did.

This led to a discovery in Steam’s onboarding policies, although its actual date of introduction remains unknown, it appears to be around July 16. In the policy update, Valve added new restrictions on what games should not be published on Steam. In typical corporate fashion, it leaves a lot to interpretation.

The most alarming addition is 15, “content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks.“

Speaking with Matt Wales, from EuroGamer, Valve responded with the following comment:

“We were recently notified that certain games on Steam may violate the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their related card networks and banks. As a result, we are retiring those games from being sold on the Steam Store, because loss of payment methods would prevent customers from being able to purchase other titles and game content on Steam.”

24 hours after Matt’s post, Caitlin Roper of Collective Shout published an article claiming the addition of entry 15 in Steam’s policy update was a direct result of their campaign, and saw the removal of hundreds of games from Steam.

Previously, as of April 2025, only 14 entries were filed under the “what you shouldn’t publish” section of the onboarding policies. Unfortunately, I was unable to find more recent records until July 16, at which point the 15th entry had been added, which makes it safe to assume it was a direct response to the Collective Shout campaign.

Once again, we arrive at a heated moment in the discussion of censorship and control in the video game space. How much censorship do we need in the gaming space? Who gets to make the call on what’s acceptable and what’s too far?

In the early 90s, games such as Night Trap and Mortal Kombat were used to highlight violence in video games, both of which would be mocked by today’s standards of violence. In the early 2000’s Manhunt, which I admit even as a fan was incredibly violent, was another game banned in several countries.

Unfortunately, with the state of discussion online today, it’s not going to be solved anytime soon. With nuance being all but extinct, whichever side of the debate you lean toward, you’re branded one extreme or another by the other.

Video games pushing the limits of creative acceptance is nothing new, but there needs to be a line. Where that line sits and who gets to decide is up for debate, but I’m not sure that responsibility should see with payment providers.

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