An Australian organization has pushed for a bunch of “adult” games to disappear from Steam, by pressuring payment service providers. The bans are reportedly set to extend further to titles like Grand Theft Auto. Gamers believe: Let them try. Then the spectacle would soon end.
What bans are we talking about?
- In July 2025, dozens of games disappeared from Steam, mainly those with erotic or very violent content. “Adult Games,” as they are referred to by gamers.
- The reason was apparently that payment service providers like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal pressured and threatened to refuse payments when such products were offered.
- The trigger was reportedly the Australian organization Collective Shout, which describes itself as a feminist organization, fighting for women’s rights and against the sexualization of women in media. However, its actual principles are fundamentally Christian. Collective Shout is also an advocate for the “Pro Life” movement, which aims to ban abortions.
Why is GTA now at risk? The game distributor ZOOM has spoken to its contacts at payment service providers. In a statement, it is stated that the partners are “concerned” about the content.
In an email to the news portal GamingOnLinux, it is supposedly stated: The ZOOM team expects that titles like GTA, Duke Nukem, or Saints Row are considered at risk, meaning they are under threat of removal.
ZOOM wants to counter this by no longer paying directly for games, but by collecting currencies in a digital wallet. This way, you can easily buy whatever you want without restrictions.
GOG has also opposed the reprisals and has temporarily offered the banned video games for free, but only for a limited time.
“No way are they just watching silently”
On Reddit, the news has caused a stir. The catchy ban on adult games has outraged many gamers as they see it as paternalism. Adult gamers should be able to decide for themselves what they buy, not PayPal or Visa.
However, it was also about small publishers and developers who cannot fight back. In the current case, however, Rockstar and Take-Two are standing against the impending ban. And they have significantly more resources:
Wouldn’t the attempt be the best-case scenario? Publishers for adult games generally do not have the financial means to litigate against payment service providers. But as soon as you take on the big gaming companies – they have entire legal teams to fight it out.
axle2005 on Reddit
Rockstar and Take-Two, the companies behind GTA, would not simply watch as their games disappear from Steam and others. Particularly with regard to the announced and hyped GTA 6, which cannot be stopped.
Whether such a procedure will even take place remains to be seen. There is as yet no concrete evidence that GTA is at risk of being banned at all. However, Collective Shout already expressed outrage back in 2014, this time over GTA 5.
The accusation back then was: GTA 5 encourages players to brutally murder women for entertainment. At that time, the petition was partially successful. GTA 5 has disappeared from some stores in Australia. Steam itself also reacted to a particularly extreme game before the ban wave in July, which Collective Shout was also allegedly involved in: A new game on Steam was so extreme that Valve removed it – developers give up
