(Speaking with Aftermath, Itch’s founder, Leaf Corcoran, specifically cited a notice from Visa as an incident that led to the sudden deindexing of so many games).
A payment processor tells that they either remove the porn games, or they will remove the ability to pay for all games for them. The only company that can stand up to them in any way is one large enough to call the bluff and the payment processor wouldn’t be willing to actually lose.
And that list is basically Amazon, Apple, Google and stuff like that, and definitely not a tiny thing like itch.io.
Valve was the first to fold. And apparently it wasn’t to Visa or Mastercard but to some intermediaries. Not sure how much pull those have, but probably still pretty big given what happened.
I’m not sure Valve have folded as much as pretending to comply for now to stall for time to work on a more strategic countermeasure that will stay long into the future.
Maybe I’m just coping but it’s the logical thing to do in the US where Valve is based, and Valve is one of the few US companies who are not always under time pressure because they are like one of the biggest companies who’s private and not publicly traded.
ObsidianZed@lemmy.world
on 02 Aug 01:14
nextcollapse
If they make it free but adapt some content lock for further progress, which you can get by donating to dev? It would not be too bad, be better for the dev as no cut is taken by itch
The whole crypto scene seems like a scheme at the moment… But then you see the bullshit visa / mastercard are pulling and you see the need for a digital currency.
Any corporation with near monopoly power will ALWAYS fuck up the consumer.
InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world
on 02 Aug 18:12
nextcollapse
Crypto, in my view is more conceded with libertarianism than actually helping anyone. I read the grievances as capitalism not providing enough opportunity to be the boot.
Even still crypo is centralized as that is how most people interact with it. The speculative nature also makes it a bad currency.
Just make instant direct payments… you know, like SEPA. No need for any new schemes.
dogs0n@sh.itjust.works
on 02 Aug 16:16
nextcollapse
It would likely be the same in the eyes of the payment processor. It technically is the same thing, except you must “top up” your account with money first before buying a game, instead of buying it directly.
That’s exactly what DLsite has done when MasterCard and Visa banned them. Granted, they’re Japanese so most fo their sales use Japanese methods like JCB, PayPay, etc. I’m not sure if this would kill services that didn’t have such a large domestic audience.
I have to say since this whole anti porn in games thing has happened, I’ve ironically exposed myself to more porn games.
Before I wouldn’t imagine playing porn games. Ever since the itch unban, I’ve tried a few games on itch.io to see what the fuss was about and got absolutely hooked on Queens Brothel - to the point where I’ve paid for the full version on Patreon.
If the Christian brothers and sisters at Collective Shout wanted less people exposed to porn games, lol. lmao even.
There are infinite but imo all extremely mid, virtuamates pretty cool tho (or fked up depending on how you see things) because ppl make 3d models of celebs and you can mix it with anymocap, so its like gooner holodeck) but its ends up being a dressup posing game and I feel like im a kid playing my sisters barbie or whatever targeted at girl games and forget my original purpose. Like the sheer amount of addons out there is insane, you could do a full physics tv show in there if you really wanted.
Its not like superreal looking but at the right lighting/angle/facialexpression they kinda look like the ppl they’re supposed to be. Weridly the most realistic looking models I saw being sold were of men like the rock looked 1:1.
overall if you do end up using it, its prob to play the dressup game, actually using that game to jerk off is tedious, like might as well find vr porn and even thats tedious might as well just jerk off real quick and move on
If it satisfies the payment processors to continue distributing these games so long as they’re not purchased with their service, I feel it should also be fine to list non–free pornographic games that can only be purchased with BTC or Monero.
threaded - newest
Heard about this earlier. The situation sucks, but at least this is better than nothing.
So devs got to eat it because this company can’t stand up to Mastercard and Visa.
Itch.io is currently saying the problem is Stripe, and maybe Visa.
Historically (ex: otakuusamagazine.com/visa-and-mastercard-refuse-t…), I’d say Mastercard and Visa are both to blame. But the jury is still out on wtf is going on here.
I’m not sure who pressured Steam. But Itch.io (aftermath.site/steam-itch-porn-censorship-collect…) is claiming Stripe and Visa are pressuring them.
A payment processor tells that they either remove the porn games, or they will remove the ability to pay for all games for them. The only company that can stand up to them in any way is one large enough to call the bluff and the payment processor wouldn’t be willing to actually lose.
And that list is basically Amazon, Apple, Google and stuff like that, and definitely not a tiny thing like itch.io.
Valve stands a better chance of making a stand, but it’s still a single sandbag vs a tsunami
Valve was the first to fold. And apparently it wasn’t to Visa or Mastercard but to some intermediaries. Not sure how much pull those have, but probably still pretty big given what happened.
Yeah, Valve folded first, but with itch pushing back a little it gives me hope that Valve will do the same, but with a little more teeth.
I’m not sure Valve have folded as much as pretending to comply for now to stall for time to work on a more strategic countermeasure that will stay long into the future.
Maybe I’m just coping but it’s the logical thing to do in the US where Valve is based, and Valve is one of the few US companies who are not always under time pressure because they are like one of the biggest companies who’s private and not publicly traded.
I just saw GoG announce freedomtobuy.games too
If they make it free but adapt some content lock for further progress, which you can get by donating to dev? It would not be too bad, be better for the dev as no cut is taken by itch
So… Who processes the donation?
Any ethical website that is already a donation handler for content creators?
The problem is the payment processor. There’s only so many of them that customers actually choose to use.
The problem cited by payment processor is dodged if the money is coming in as donations rather than payments, no?
So if the problem is payment, what stops a company from selling “tokens” and those tokens can be redeemed for “anything”?
That way the visa / mastercard assholes can suck a cock, no?
Add some massive unregulated grifting and hideous environmental consequences to your idea, and you’ve just invented Bitcoin.
The whole crypto scene seems like a scheme at the moment… But then you see the bullshit visa / mastercard are pulling and you see the need for a digital currency.
Any corporation with near monopoly power will ALWAYS fuck up the consumer.
Crypto, in my view is more conceded with libertarianism than actually helping anyone. I read the grievances as capitalism not providing enough opportunity to be the boot.
Even still crypo is centralized as that is how most people interact with it. The speculative nature also makes it a bad currency.
WTF are you actually trying to say here?
Conceded is the past tense of concede, which is to surrender.
How the fuck do you more surrendered with anything???
Typo: wanted to write concerned
Just make instant direct payments… you know, like SEPA. No need for any new schemes.
It would likely be the same in the eyes of the payment processor. It technically is the same thing, except you must “top up” your account with money first before buying a game, instead of buying it directly.
That’s exactly what DLsite has done when MasterCard and Visa banned them. Granted, they’re Japanese so most fo their sales use Japanese methods like JCB, PayPay, etc. I’m not sure if this would kill services that didn’t have such a large domestic audience.
I’ll just copy and paste what I wrote elsewhere
I have to say since this whole anti porn in games thing has happened, I’ve ironically exposed myself to more porn games.
Before I wouldn’t imagine playing porn games. Ever since the itch unban, I’ve tried a few games on itch.io to see what the fuss was about and got absolutely hooked on Queens Brothel - to the point where I’ve paid for the full version on Patreon.
If the Christian brothers and sisters at Collective Shout wanted less people exposed to porn games, lol. lmao even.
Streisand effect
I had no clue these games even existed until this whole thing. Now I’ve seen far more porn games than I ever expected to be a thing.
There are infinite but imo all extremely mid, virtuamates pretty cool tho (or fked up depending on how you see things) because ppl make 3d models of celebs and you can mix it with anymocap, so its like gooner holodeck) but its ends up being a dressup posing game and I feel like im a kid playing my sisters barbie or whatever targeted at girl games and forget my original purpose. Like the sheer amount of addons out there is insane, you could do a full physics tv show in there if you really wanted.
Its not like superreal looking but at the right lighting/angle/facialexpression they kinda look like the ppl they’re supposed to be. Weridly the most realistic looking models I saw being sold were of men like the rock looked 1:1.
overall if you do end up using it, its prob to play the dressup game, actually using that game to jerk off is tedious, like might as well find vr porn and even thats tedious might as well just jerk off real quick and move on
It does feel like a precursor to insane sht in the future, think they added ai support
I’m a sex adverse asexual. It has been more curiosity that they actually exist more than anything for me.
i looked into them as well and am disappointed to find that they are mostly visual novels
Hot take!
Go back to paying via SMS! xD
If it satisfies the payment processors to continue distributing these games so long as they’re not purchased with their service, I feel it should also be fine to list non–free pornographic games that can only be purchased with BTC or Monero.