We're building https://altgames.io/, an alternative game marketplace for people who have been affected by the recent censorship. Feel free to send me a DM if you're interested, I'd love to chat.
blocking regions that require age verification will get more and more tricky. It's coming to the entire eu next and it looks like the US is considering doing it. I'm already in a country that just introduced it so obviously I've got a vested interest. It'll probably come to most of the world as one nation copies another when they realise what's possible
I agree it's going to get tricky. I'm also in a region that enforces age verification, so I'll have to use a VPN to access my own platform!
It's a difficult trade off between privacy and ease of access. I want to make it as easy as possible for people to use the platform, but I don't feel right about being complicit in asking users to upload a photo of their ID to a private company somewhere in the US.
Blocking regions that require it definitely isn't the final solution, and it's something I'll continue to search for a better solution to that doesn't compromise on privacy. But at least for now, it's looking like using a VPN is the safest bet.
The big issue to me is that the payment processors have proven they're willing to pressure websites into censoring content that they deem 'too risky', and the sites that rely on them are basically forced to comply – so it's not only about what they do and don't allow now, but what they might decide is too risky in the future, e.g. games with LGBTQ+ content, or horror games.
Regarding the rules in the 'we can't allow' section, this is always something that I'm open to discussing. Is there anything in particular from that list that you think is overbearing or unreasonable?