Regarding the recent wave of bans on Itch.io

As you might have already noticed, last night Itch has delisted nearly all content marked as NSFW, which includes games, books, comics, and more. Our game got under fire as well, thought it can still be freely accessed via the direct link. Thankfully, these contents weren't outright banned, but instead temporarily hidden. If you want to know more about this situation, be sure to check the official statement from Itch team.

Last week similar thing happened on Steam, where thousands of games were removed from the store and became inaccessible to everyone, including people who previously purchased those items.

We, as NSFW-creators ourselves, are not in a position to act as moral guides, and we can clearly see the reason for removal of certain games, contents of which were questionable, but we would still like to voice our opinion and support for creators who were affected.

If we understand the situation correctly, both Itch and Steam are starting to enforce similar rules Patreon did a while back (and does to this day), which is understandable. Monetizing certain kinds of content could be seen as problematic, and online stores have the right to decide whether or not they would like to see these games present on their platform. But it's a completely different thing when a payment provider, a separate entity from the online store itself, starts dictating what you can or cannot purchase using your own funds due to the pressure from third-parties. Censorship is bad in general, and it gets even worse, when a small group of people start enacting their will and personal beliefs on the rest of the world under the guise of "doing the right thing".

We believe that any content that meets all existing legal criteria to be developed and distributed should not be affected by a censorship, unless there are laws that clearly state otherwise. This kind of censorship is a bad precedent for the entire entertainment market, not only NSFW-games, but all media marketed towards adults in general.

If you, as a creator, have been affected by this situation - don't panic. Most Patreon-based developers are already compliant with the updated requirements both on Steam and Itch, so there is a good chance you will be able to restore your store pages in coming weeks. We understand the psychological effects these sudden changes could have on creators, so feel free to contact us if you need any help, or just want someone to talk to for reassurance.

Please, make sure to let your voice be heard regarding this issue. We truly hope that creators in this industry will be able to continue pursuing their passions and develop amazing projects, which not only bring you all joy, but also help thousands of talented people sustain themselves.

With love,
Young & Naughty team.