Itch.io starts reindexing free NSFW content

Digital storefront Itch.io is reindexing its free adult games, and is talking to its partnered payment processors about plans to gradually reintroduce paid NSFW content. In a new , the company said the decision will ensure it can “confidently support the widest range of creators in the long term.”

Itch.io has instructed developers and creators who want their games back on the store to tick a “no payments” box that sits in the pricing section of a game’s edit page. It adds that any game that uses “individually priced files” will have those files converted into free content by checking the box. The company is also introducing a new content warnings system for NSFW-tagged pages, which it says all page owners are required to update accordingly before being reindexed.

Itch.io says it has talked to one of its long-standing payment processors, Stripe, about its policies on explicit adult content, and said it will no longer be able to take payments for games deemed to be “designed for sexual gratification” via the platform. This is due to new restrictions enforced by Stripe’s banking partners. In a included in the Itch.io update, Stripe said it hasn’t closed the door on the possibility of being able to support adult content again in the future. In the meantime, Itch.io says it is talking to its other payment partners about accepting the card payments Stripe is currently no longer able to process.

The future of adult content on Itch.io appears to be uncertain. It was only that all NSFW games on the platform were deindexed and hidden, following the new payment processor policies. The sudden and frustratingly rules and Itch.io introduced to remain in compliance with those payment processors have resulted in unjust casualties. This week, solo developer Cara Cadaver told that her game, VILE: Exhumed, has been removed from and banned by Steam on the basis of it having scenes of “sexual content with depictions of real people,” a description she says is not accurate. VILE: Exhumed is a mainly text-based game, and has been well received in previews, landing a spot on Six One Indie’s roundup back in May. Steam’s decision to remove the game is not eligible for appeal.