Steam Cracks Down on Adult Games with New Vague Rule

Steam just made a quiet but significant change that’s causing trouble for adult game developers. A new rule in Valve’s onboarding process now bans any game content that violates the terms of its “payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers.” That may sound generic, but the effects are already being felt—over 20 adult games were recently removed from the platform, and most of them had one thing in common.

According to SteamDB, which tracks updates and removals on Valve’s storefront, the platform recently revised its onboarding rules. The added clause is causing a stir because it shifts the responsibility of deciding what is or isn’t allowed on Steam away from Valve and onto third-party companies like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. These are the same companies that have a long track record of placing restrictions on sexual content, often with little explanation or consistency.

This isn’t the first time Steam has found itself in a tough spot with adult content. Valve has built a reputation over the past few years for being one of the few platforms that openly allows explicit games, as long as they don’t cross specific legal boundaries. The storefront is full of titles that other digital marketplaces wouldn’t touch. But this new rule could signal the start of a shift—one where Steam has to comply with vague and shifting standards set by outside corporations, instead of defining its own.

Image: SteamDB

The current situation is messy because Valve hasn’t said much about what exactly this new guideline includes. It’s not clear which specific types of content violate the policies of payment processors, and developers haven’t received official clarification. That makes it hard to know if upcoming titles will be approved or suddenly rejected.

“Content that violates the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers,” is now prohibited.

So far, the only pattern that’s emerged among the 22 games removed from the platform is the presence of incest-related themes. Some of the games also had low-quality thumbnails, but the theme itself seems to be the real reason for the takedowns. That makes sense considering most payment processors draw hard lines on certain topics they consider to be morally or legally risky.

Historically, companies like PayPal and Visa have been uneasy about anything that leans too far into adult content. Even platforms that sell erotic books, adult comics, or sexual education materials have faced bans or blocked transactions. These companies often justify their rules as necessary to prevent illegal content—especially non-consensual depictions—but in practice, their enforcement tends to be broad and unnuanced.

Sometimes, the result is that perfectly legal content gets swept up in moderation efforts because it doesn’t align with corporate morality standards. There’s also a double standard in how these restrictions are applied. Adult indie games get hit hard, while AAA games featuring nudity or sexual scenes don’t face the same scrutiny. A high-budget title with a steamy cutscene will stay up. A small visual novel with explicit dialogue might not.

The bigger issue is transparency. Right now, Steam developers are being told to follow a rule that points to external companies with private standards. They don’t know what those standards are, and they can’t predict how they’ll be enforced. That leads to hesitation, delays, or, in some cases, abandoning projects that might otherwise have been approved just a few months ago.

Valve hasn’t offered public comments on the change yet, which is typical. The company is known for avoiding press cycles around moderation decisions. But developers are already sharing their concerns, and unless clearer communication comes soon, expect more pushback.

Steam has always walked a strange line between openness and enforcement. It allows things other platforms don’t, but it also keeps rules flexible enough to change without warning. This new clause about payment processor policies might sound like legal filler, but it’s already shaping what can and can’t be published on the world’s biggest PC storefront.