To whom it may concern,

It has come to my attention that numerous works and projects of an adult nature have been summarily de-listed or outright removed from itch.io. While this does not affect me or my projects at present, this infringes on the rights and livelihoods of my fellow creators.

One can not help but view these delistings on the part of itch.io as but an act of blatant and unwarranted censorship, and a gutless concession to a fascist agenda. 

Itch.io, I am urging you to relist and restore adult content previously, rightfully hosted on this site.

-contagonist

NO IT IS THEIR FAULT THEY MADE THE CHOICE NO ONE FORCED THEM TO DO THIS!!! YOU DON'T GET TO DEFEND THEM ON THIS ONE WE WILL TAKE ACTION ON THIS ONE WAY OR ANOUTHER THIS SITE WILL BE UNDER BETTER MANAGEMENT OR BE REPLCED/ SHUT DOWN THEY HAVE CROSSED THE LINE AND IT IS TIME FOR ALL OUT WAR!!!

AND DON'T START THAT STRONG ARM BULLSHIT WITH THE SHADOW BANNING EVEN STEAM GAVE WARNING AND COMPENSATION THIS IS AN OUT RIGHT COWARDLY PREEMTIVE ATTACK ON PEOPLE WHO MADE THIS SITE WHAT IT IS AND THE WHOLE SITE WILL PAY FOR IT!!!

I'm just here to throw my voice on the pile. This is unacceptable.

Agreed. Shame on itch.io for bending over like this. 

honestly there is no way to know what is next. The group who led the removal of steam nsfw (Collective Shutout) is now targeting Detroit Become Human. They are a far right Christian group hiding behind "protect women"

If you are reading this then a good way to get back at Visa and Master Card would be to swap your accounts over and get cards with different companies. If enough people switch over then it will hurt Visa and Master Card. Show them that WE WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY FORM OF CENSORSHIP!

if this doesn't get reversed in some way, we should delete our accounts and start pressuring google to blacklist the whole site over their horribly enacted censorship

Visa, Mastercard, and Paypal are all public companies. They only have a duty to provide value to their shareholders. Buy their stocks and then sue them the next time they do this. (I am not a lawyer, do not take legal advice from me.) It is fucking disgusting that you all did this cowardly shit. Say no. Take them to court. Make them prove how it provides value to their shareholders.

What the HELL Itch.io you are a place for Indie devs of all kinds to use to post share and play all kinds of games with one another why have you done this? this censorship is harmful to the very community that uses your site i cant sit here and let this site that i love so much turn into a place that yields to those who seek control over gay and queer individuals right to create, and express themselves while also getting an income from it, your censorship is a huge slap in the face to the very people who use your site and i cant believe youd actually do this

edit: hey guys there are more pages of comments its hard to tell but make sure u check out the other pages as ive seen some pretty important information in them such as: https://chng.it/PmG8VqqDyh 
a link to a partition to help fight this stupid censorship

im reaching out to discord itch game group owners and bringing this up to them in hopes they bring more attention to this tho im not sure if i should bother them with this either way i hope im not stressing them out over this

Everyone, sign this petition if you want to see change:

https://chng.it/TDzjnxX6fm

It's all about this very issue, we need to show these guys we aren't going to bow to them!

anyone know where i can go to yell at itch, visa, and or collective shout for this?

What is most infuriating to me is I'm seeing devs on Bluesky showing screenshots of denied payouts because of the sudden ban of their game, that they had no warning for. These people need to pay rent, to buy food, some need to buy medication. Some people make a lot on Itch, and then to just have their payouts denied because of a sudden rule change that there was no heads up for? Itch is deplorable. And I'm seeing people who are getting shadowbanned who don't have any NSFW content at all, just LGBTQ+ content that's completely SFW. Itch is cooked.

There is a template circulating around on X in case some of you all want to reuse it: 

"Dear itch.io team,

I’m writing as a long-time supporter of itch.io and of the vibrant, experimental, and deeply personal work that has flourished on your platform — especially from queer, trans, and marginalized creators whose games may not have found a home elsewhere.

It is with deep concern that I’ve learned about the recent measures to de-index or restrict access to NSFW games on the platform. While I understand that these actions may stem from external pressures—particularly from payment processors— I believe this approach risks undermining the very spirit of creative independence that itch.io has long represented.

Historically, itch.io has been one of the few truly open spaces for boundary-pushing, community-driven work in gaming. Many queer developers have used the platform not just to distribute their games, but to explore identity, intimacy, and survival in ways that mainstream platforms actively suppress. By restricting access to adult content, especially without transparent dialogue or alternative avenues, itch.io inadvertently echoes the censorship and erasure these creators already face elsewhere.

Rather than adopting a blanket de-indexing policy, I urge you to consider more nuanced solutions that preserve your payment infrastructure without compromising on your core values:

• Categorization tools: Implement or enhance robust tagging and filtering systems that give users clear control over what they see, while keeping adult content discoverable to those who seek it out.
• Opt-in visibility: Like many other web platforms that have had to deal with the pressure of card processors, let creators mark their content appropriately and allow users to opt into viewing NSFW material, ensuring compliance without erasure.
• Payment processor segmentation: Explore separate processing flows or alternative payment options. 
• Public advocacy and transparency: Communicate openly with your community about the nature of the pressure you’re facing and invite public support. Many of us are willing to stand in solidarity with you if we know what’s at stake.

In this current political climate—where queer art is increasingly under attack—platforms like itch.io play an essential role. I sincerely hope you will reconsider this course of action and reaffirm your commitment to the creative communities that helped make itch.io what it is today."

everyone should sign this petition to fight back!

www.change.org/p/tell-mastercard-visa-activist-groups-stop-controlling-what-we-c...

Even if in the intent of self preservation they can't just restore the pages, at least moving them to a separate domain so creators could have a chance to setup a donation link of some sorts would show some  concern for their wellbeing instead of this whole delisting situation.

When visa and other payment processors wield far too much market share power and can bully platforms to take away consumer choice.

Ain't capitalism great? 

Profit is the point, not us. Never us.

Sure, you can reduce the issue to something as simple as 'let us have our porn you censor happy, greedy, cowardly fucks!', but it's not necessarily about that. Well, not 'just' that, bc it partly is, let's not get things twisted.

But the real issue is, like I said above, outside entities who have no business other than to literally process payments for the consumer, who, in theory, should be the ones in charge, dictating what's on the market and what choices consumers can make about it.  

I mean, you also have morally 'holier than thou' 'activists' too, but... let's be real. Self harm is something humans LOVE before wondering why they're bleeding so bad even as they keep hurting themselves.

You'd think ppl would've learned that fiction is fiction and is perfectly healthy and a good way to keep ppl from doing the crazy shit weirdos are forever screaming about... but... we never fucking learn... Or rather, we have the collective attention span of goldfish and can rationalize anything to avoid taking accountability or blame something else. 

Itch doesn't care about its customers or creators, at least not more than its own hide. It's that simple.

It'll keep sucking off visa with a smile on its face  until its stomach gets inflated before asking 'please sir, can I have some more?'

bullshit

They are all guilty. Shame on Itch io, shame on the payment processers!

i want to know whether leafo's boyfriend simulator is nsfw or whether he's gling to just target trans creators only

i think its time to abandon this site and go else where.  Same with steam, soon as they start loosing money they might be willing to fight.

Protecting the majority by smothering the minority in the name of nothing but money. Itchio has come a long long way from what it used to mean, and I couldn't mean that in a worse way. I'll absolutely not be doing any transactions on the platform without a restoration of this deeply disturbing moral policing.

I can sympathize with itch.io that they are in a uncomfortable position and a victim of disgusting religious zealot culture warriors. However, the lack of adequate communication on social media about the situation is not acceptable - and it is alarming that in the few communications itch.io has put out, it has not pushed back against the injustice of this, relayed sympathy with the artists and devs affected by this pressure campaign, and committed to doing all it legally can to resist the Puritan bigots that are attacking this website and its users.

As a game developer who is working on a very clearly adult game (No porn, no explicit sexual content)  that contains profanity, numerous horror elements, fantasy drinking, gambling, kidnapping, implied torture, character death and many other adult situations, I see that I will not be able to post it here now, once the demo is ready. Which is a damn shame, because adult content goes far beyond explicit sex and broadly encompasses anything that could be considered psychological, horror, or simply not being of a child-friendly nature. We do not live during the prohibition,  this is fucking Orwellian. There's not a damn thing wrong with porn, sex, horror, or sensitive topics that might offend certain individuals. This kind of censorship is beyond gross and entirely uncalled-for. I don't give  a shit if it's Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Discover, PayPal, Skrill, Moneybookers, or any other payment processor that's being a pussy. It's because Collective Shout might as well drag everyone back to the fucking Crusades, or decide that women cannot flash an ankle in a game without someone catching the vapors. Shit like this needs to stop immediately.

This feels exactly like the '90s all over again when the media wouldn't STFU about how "violence in video games is harmful to children". Also similar to the situation in the '80s when Tipper Gore (Al Gore's wife) and the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) went in front of Congress and convinced record labels to slap those idiotic "Parental Advisory Explicit Content" labels on album covers. If something is offensive but not illegal, it should be allowed to be accessed. Do I like the content that was in games like "No Mercy"? No, but it isn't illegal to depict these actions in a fictional manner. Let the market decide what is and isn't acceptable, not companies, ESPECIALLY those that are having ever-increasing control over our daily lives due to us not relying on cash transactions anymore. 

lmao, this is one of the reasons I liked itch a lot. Now they removed the thing I liked about it. Big L

Btw before all starts talking about VISA and Mastercard and Paypal having a monopoly. The only reason they have a monopoly is because of KYC and AML that the GOVERNMENT has mandated. So they would NOT have a monopoly if it was not for the government. This is all big governments fault. Please don't ask for more regulation, we need less and we would not have this problem. 

So itch is dead. I found this place a month ago looking for alternative games since "official" games just want money in exchange for giving us garbage. What a shame. Rest in peace itch.

I don't see this issue resolving in a way that would make the gamers happy. Itch should say fuck you to payment processors and start accepting crypto.

Try these: https://action.aclu.org/petition/mastercard-sex-work-work-end-your-unjust-policy https://www.change.org/p/tell-mastercard-visa-activist-groups-stop-controlling-w...

And other posts seem to be listing mastercard phone numbers to call, I wouldn't know if these numbers are accurate but that might be worth a try as well.

Would itch consider switching to a different payment processor? While companies like Stripe are the biggest, there are many others out there that came about after censorship groups pressured payment processors into going after others in the past, e.g., electronic repair communities, and communities developing 3rd party schematics. 

Given how much more effective these censorship companies are becoming, my may be best to just move to a payment processor whose business model is to never ban any legal content. If itch sticks with their current payment processor, they will only continue to gradually censor more content and this situation will become a regularly occurring event. 

هذا هراء لمذا تحذفون المحتوى الذي يلجأ اليه الهواة  الذي هو ارقى من العاهرات في المواقع الاباحية التي بينما تحذفون الالعاب الاباحية هذا جنون وانتم ضد حريات الشباب انتم تقتلون الشباب في كل مكان