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tahl-en.bsky.social
@tahl-en.bsky.social
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videogameworkers.bsky.social
Keep up the pressure! #SaveSpeech
In the last two weeks, we have seen a wave of censorship sweep across online retailers, particularly Steam and Itch.io. This is because of demands from payment processors as well as sex-negative activist groups like Collective Shout (originally reported by journalist Ana Valens, and then censored by VICE’s parent company). UVW affirms that sex and sexuality belong in games. Games are works of art, created by workers who should be free to express themselves. It's important to encourage a healthy and critical discourse about the media we consume. One vocal minority cannot have the power to categorically silence creative expression, just because some sexual themes make some people uncomfortable. Sexual art is art, sex work is work. Any attempt to suppress sexual art is an attempt to suppress all art. Any attempt to deny sex workers their dignity is an attempt to deny all workers their dignity. Workers rely on platforms like Steam and itch.io to distribute their games, and it is workers who are suffering at the behest of this vocal minority. We call on the payment processors Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, and any other companies demanding compliance with this unjust action to reverse their policies and stand with the workers who have lined their pockets for years with their labor. We call on Valve and the Itch.io leadership to reverse their policies and stand with game developers. We encourage our members and the general games community to use the resources in the quoted post to contact these payment processors directly and express how strongly we object to their actions.
July 28, 2025 at 8:12 PM