The easy solution? Move to Bitcoin. Let Mastercard know: "It’s not us, it’s your policy." Why should a payment processor act as judge, jury, and content censor? Gabe Newell and Valve, once champions of open digital creativity, now seem like digital overlords bowing to corporate pressure instead of standing with creators.
Let’s not kid ourselves — illegal content is a serious issue, and Newell has acknowledged that. But when platforms like Steam abdicate responsibility and let Mastercard dictate what stays or goes, they’re not solving the problem — they’re pushing it into the shadows. That’s not protection; it’s deflection.
Marketplaces must step up with strong, transparent frameworks to handle ethically grey content — not sanitize everything under fear. Creators deserve clarity, not a culture of knee-jerk bans to appease external interests.
Let’s be honest: every time Valve bends the knee, the ripple hits smaller platforms like itch.io, and guess who loves that? Politicians. Both sides of the aisle feast on easy headlines. They don’t get the culture, but they sure love to regulate it.
Regulation should come from the market itself — the developers, players, and communities that actually live in these spaces. If we keep the doors open to those who don’t get it, we’re inviting more rules that crush innovation and drive real creators out — while leaving room for actual bad actors to sneak in.
We need marketplaces built on innovation and trust, not fear and corporate appeasement.