FTC May Indirectly Help Removed NSFW Games Return to Steam
Back in 2025, Steam and itch.io began removing games with explicit content on a large scale. It was later reported that the pressure came from payment operators and card companies, which believed those projects violated their rules. As a result, hundreds of games were removed from digital stores like Steam.
This caused concern among developers, since many of the removed games belonged to legal businesses. It also led to questions about how much control payment companies should have over what legal content stays online.
FTC Sends Warning to Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Stripe
Now, in a new development, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent warnings to major payment systems, including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Stripe.
The letters, sent by FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, remind these companies that U.S. law does not allow financial services to restrict access because of political or religious views, or because of their lawful business activity.
The FTC said that law-abiding individuals and businesses need to be able to use the financial system freely in order to fully take part in commerce and public life. Because of this, the restrictions imposed by payment services could be seen as going against the principles of free trade.
Although the regulator’s action is not directly aimed at protecting developers of NSFW games, it could still indirectly influence the policies of payment companies. If those restrictions are reviewed, it may create a path for previously removed games to return to Steam and other platforms.
In other news, the British music rights organization The Performing Right Society (PRS) for Music has sued Valve over music rights in Steam games, claiming the company did not obtain the required license.
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