SubscribeStar Joins Adult Game Bans

SubscribeStar, one of the main channels of commerce for independent adult media content, has banned the NSFW game Degrees of Lewdity from sales and updates. It is as of yet unclear, but likely, if the cause is SubscribeStar being pressured by payment processors, developer Vrelnir says.

Vrelnir, developer of the text and pixel based adult game Degrees of Lewdity, has shared in a Blogspot post that his SubscribeStar page, main sales channel for the game, has been hit by a so-called “soft ban”: While the page is still up, channels to support the game with money are blocked by the page provider and the developer can no longer post updates.

“Due to the timing, I suspect this is connected with the recent troubles regarding internet privacy and freedom, in the UK in particular, with the governments restricting access to adult content. It's part of an international trend to control the sort of content people can access, and create.”, the developer voices.

If this is the case, SubscribeStar is joining in with other store pages that have been put under pressure by payment providers like PayPal, Mastercard, Visa and others. In the last few weeks, not only has itch.io openly stated that they have been pressured into compliance by payment providers, but Steam has begun banning adult games as well. SubscribeStar has, up until now, been one of the main channels for adult content to be monetised.

Vrelnir are also using the opportunity to call for change: “I've heard a lot about activist groups spearheading this, about Mastercard and Visa pressuring governments. This is pertinent, but kinda skips over why they have such power to begin with. Ordinary people are losing control of the resources they need to live. Those who own a lot of assets, including homes and basic infrastructure, are able to charge others for their use. They spend this money on more assets, which makes yet more money, and so on. Money is a competitive resource, so this drives up the price of assets beyond the reach of more and more people. In the past, richer countries prevented this through progressive taxation. Since changes to tax structures in the 80s, there have been dramatic changes in wealth distribution. That's what I witnessed growing up, though I had no way of knowing at the time. A rich country transforming into a poor country.”

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