As mobile game development continues to grow in popularity, adult game developers are facing a unique set of challenges. In recent weeks, Steam and itch.io have been caught up in controversy surrounding payment processors and the content they allow on their platforms.

Taylor McCue, developer and co-founder of Itch Queer Games Bundle, was caught off guard when itch.io de-indexed all titles tagged as NSFW from its browse and search pages. This move affected thousands of games, making it harder for players to discover and access them. "The first 24 hours were chaos," McCue recalls. "I dropped everything I was doing and focused on saving my game."

The incident was the second blow for adult game developers in weeks. Earlier that month, Steam updated its developer guidelines to prohibit certain types of adult content, confirming it would retire select games following conversations with payment processors. For some developers, there were signs of increased caution at Valve even prior to that.

Bobbi Augustine Sand, of developer Transcenders Media, experienced a more thorough review process when submitting their game Truer Than You to Steam. Despite containing non-explicit sexual content and veiled nudity, the studio was asked to "submit a means to reach each ending of the game" before being rejected.

It wasn't long before the reason for Valve's increased caution became clear. Conservative Australian pressure group Collective Shout had been inundating payment processors with complaints about Steam, allegedly protesting the presence of "rape, sexual torture, and incest games" on the platform.

Payment processors in turn threatened to withdraw payment mechanisms if action wasn't taken. It soon transpired that Collective Shout had itch.io in its sights too. Itch.io began hastily de-indexing games tagged as NSFW, explaining it needed to "act urgently to protect the platform's core payment infrastructure" following targeting by Collective Shout.

Unlike Valve, which was able to pull problematic games in a more targeted manner, itch.io adopted a 'scorched earth' solution due to its open nature. As a result, queer developers whose work deals with adult themes were disproportionately affected.

Lorenzo Redaelli, developer of Mediterranea Inferno, notes that it's impossible to talk about queerness without addressing the sexual aspect – the body, the contact between bodies. "It's 100 percent acceptable to make a game where you kill people graphically," they say, "but it's not to make games about your experiences with sexual abuse/violence/trauma."

The controversy has had far-reaching implications for adult game developers, particularly those exploring queer stories. As McCue notes, "Right now, it's 100 percent acceptable to make a game where you kill people graphically, but it's not to make games about your experiences with sexual abuse/violence/trauma. People are using the spectre of sexual violence to silence people from talking about their own lives."

In response, some creators have opted to drop payments and create separate donate pages to generate income. McCue was one such developer who created a 'donate here' page as a way to restore the visibility of their titles.

The controversy has also raised concerns about the impact on queer game developers, who are already marginalized in the industry. As Caroline Delbert notes, "The internet has long been a sanctuary for queer people whose daily lives and logistics can be so cruel."