A recent petition against Visa, MasterCard, and activist groups who have gotten dozens of games removed fromSteamis blowing up in a big way, with over 30,000 signatures and counting. In under a week, thisSteampetition has exploded, and it is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.
On July 16, Steam updated its publishing guidelines in a way that makes games beholden to its payment processors, like MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal. Many of these companies have strict regulations against sexual content, which prompted approximately 100adult games to be removed from Steamin response.
This sudden censorship sparked immediate outrage from fans, leading to the creation of anew petition on Change.org.Started by Zero Ryoko, this grievance demands MasterCard and Visa to stop seeking the censorship of legal fictional content on Steam and elsewhere, reject pressure from activist groups like Collective Shout, increase its transparency for restricted content, and protect creators’ rights to make adult content. Droves of Ryoko’s fellow gamers agreed with their stance, with over 30,000 fans signing the petition in under a week.
Steam Censorship Petition Breaks 30,000 Signatures
This petition opened on July 17, the day after Steam’s policy changes went into effect. Four days later, theSteam petition had reached 10,000 signatures– but within the next two days, it had received more than twice as many additional signatures in half the time. Indeed, in the time it took to write this article, approximately 500 more signatures were added to the petition. Needless to say, it seems like this petition will only continue to grow in the near future.
That said, there is no guarantee the petition will lead to any lasting change. Regardless of how many signatures it gets, Change.org cannot directly force MasterCard, Visa, or Steam to make any policy changes directly, but thousands of gamers making their voices heard will be noticed, which can lead to lost profits, sinking stock prices, and pressure from shareholders. At press time, neitherSteam nor its payment processorshave made any statements about this petition, but as signatures continue to grow, it will become increasingly difficult to ignore.
This isn’t the only petition blowing up in the gaming world right now.Stop Killing Games is an EU initiativewith over 1.4 million signatures and counting, formed in response to Ubisoft shutting down servers forThe Crew, with the goal of pressuring governments to create legislation to prevent companies from permanently sunsetting live service games. Regardless of where one stands on these petitions, it is clear that many gamers are not happy with the way things are in the industry right now.
Steam
Steam is a digital video game storefront and program developed by Valve that allows gamers to purchase, play, and mod their titles all through one convenient program.
