Mastercard denies pressuring game platforms, Valve tells a distinct story

The outcry after a recent marketplace crackdown on games with adult content, seemingly because of pressure from payment processors, prompted Mastercard to release a transient statement Friday pushing back against recent headlines.

“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 corporate said, adding, “At the identical time, we require merchants to have appropriate controls to make sure Mastercard cards can’t be used for illegal purchases, including illegal adult content.”

This follows an open letter by the advocacy group Collective Shout addressed to executives at Paypal, Mastercard, Visa, and other corporations, criticizing them for allowing the sale of “No Mercy” and other games that depict rape, incest, and child sexual abuse.

In the next weeks, Steam announced that it might ban games that violate the principles of its “payment processors and related card networks and banks.” Then Itch.io said it was removing games with adult content from its browse and search pages while conducting a broader audit.

While Mastercard’s statement seems to undermine the narrative that payment and card corporations were those pressuring the sport marketplaces, Steam owner Valve responded with an announcement of its own, provided to PC Gamer and other gaming sites.

In accordance with Valve, “Mastercard didn’t communicate with Valve directly, despite our request to achieve this. Mastercard communicated with payment processors and their acquiring banks. Payment processors communicated this with Valve, and we replied by outlining Steam’s policy since 2018 of attempting to distribute games which can be legal for distribution.”

Valve said its response was “rejected” by the payment processors, who noted the “risk to the Mastercard brand” and pointed to a Mastercard rule against “illegal or brand-damaging transactions.”

Meanwhile, Itch.io said that it’s now re-indexing free games with adult content while negotiating with payment processors including Stripe, which for its part said it’s “unable to support sexually explicit content” because of “banking partners.”