The indie game marketplace Itch.io decided to shadowban NSFW (not safe for work) content last week to the chagrin of fans, and this week they’re restoring the free ones.
Last week, the indie game marketplace Itch.io followed the Steam marketplace’s lead in shadowbanning NSFW content from the storefront. The marketplace claimed it was ‘deindexing’ the content, but what it meant was that content that fit the NSFW descriptor would not appear in results after searching, even if searching for those titles directly. Both marketplaces started collectively shadowbanning after Zerat Games’ aggressively NSFW title, No Mercy, was torn down by Collective Shout, a “grassroots campaign movement against the objectification of women and the sexualisation of girls.” This week, Itch.io appears to have restored ‘some’ of the content shadowbanned from the service.
Fans immediately cried foul after the deindexing decision and went to forums like Reddit to complain that these gaming marketplaces were censoring developers and creators who publish to the sites in a wave of backlash. Many commenters on the forum suggested this “censorship” would not stop at NSFW titles, and will gradually shift to whatever is deemed “inappropriate,” like LGBTQ+ related titles, and fans are worried.
After the decision was made, the IDGA (International Game Developers Association) released a statement raising the alarm on game censorship, stating, “We are alarmed by the vague enforcement of policies delisting and deplatforming legal, consensual, and ethically-developed games, especially from LGBTQ+ and marginalized creators. Developers deserve clear rules, fair warnings, and the right to appeal.” Indie game developer, Aggro Crab Games, made a detailed post on BlueSky saying how this type of censorship can, and has, harmed developers in the industry, and it can be seen below.
This backlash has made Itch.io do a 180, and today, administrators have published a statement, determining that free NSFW content will be restored to the platform. The statement reads, “We are re-indexing free adult NSFW content,” then adding, “We are still in ongoing discussions with payment processors and will be re-introducing paid content slowly to ensure we can confidently support the widest range of creators in the long term.” The statement is followed by guidelines on how to make your title listed on Itch.io payment-free in the meantime before they’re ‘allowed’ to reintroduce paid NSFW content at a slow clip.
It’s worth mentioning that while some NSFW free content has been restored (a step in the right direction for fans), a GOTY contender, Mouthwashing, still cannot be searched for on the website.
