Recently, the anti-content pressure group Collective Shout has been criticized by the gaming community for its aggressive actions on adult gaming content. The group issued a statement today denying that it had called on Itch to remove all adult games on its platform, saying its goal was limited to games containing specific controversial content.
In the statement, Collective Shout defended its pressure tactics against payment processors, saying the move was made by theSteamActions taken after ignoring. “We have voiced our opposition to games involving rape and incest on Steam for months, but have not received a response, before turning to payment platforms to put pressure on them,” the statement read.
The group stressed that the demand for Itch.io is to remove rape and incest games that are considered to glorify violence and abuse against women. Itch.io then decided to remove all games containing adult content (NSFW) from its search engine. Collective Shout said they sent 3,463 emails to Steam calling for the removal of the game, but they were ignored.
Itch’s move is likely due to the inability to guarantee which games contain content objected to by the Collective Shout, so it chose to temporarily remove them, and some games may be reinstated after review, but the recovery time is uncertain.
The campaign began with the game No Mercy, in which the player’s mission included carrying out attacks on women. Previously, Collective Shout had also expressed a zero-tolerance stance on games involving abusive depictions such as “Detroit: Becoming Human”.
To meet the requirements of payment platforms, Itch has implemented a wide range of new rules that could lead to the removal of various games. At the same time, opposition quickly formed, including indirect support from the British gaming industry organization Ukie.
According to foreign media reports, Ukie maintains the “creative freedom” of game developers, while emphasizing that “clear and consistent age ratings” can effectively prevent players from accessing content they do not want to watch.
“This is why we strongly support the use of authoritative rating systems like PEGI on all platforms, including those with adult or experimental content,” Ukie said. We believe that payment service providers and platforms should rely on reliable age rating systems and their enforcement mechanisms. ”
