Nier’s creator is pronounced hard on secret censorship in the video game sector

When we thought the limits of content control were already clear enough, Steam has turned on a new alarm. The popular video game platform began to withdraw the qualifications with legal content for adults, And not for a change of internal policy, but for external pressures … of those who control payments.

The dark side of the payment catwalks

Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and the company not only move the money of the worldFurthermore, according to Yoko Taro, they could decide what can be seen, playing or selling. For the director of Automatic nierthis practice Goes far beyond the censorship of the content for adults: “If you can check the payment companies, you can even censor the freedom of expression of another country”.

And it is not exaggeration. Taro warns that this is no longer just a problem Which games are published or notBut a possible hole in democratic principles. “I feel that it is not just about censoring the contents of adults or putting freedom of expression at risk, but a failure of security that endangers the same democracy,” he said on social networks.

The decision was not from Valve

Valve, the company behind SteamHe confirmed that this movement is because their payment processors have notified that some games could violate the rules of their members and associated networks. The result? Almost a hundred missing titles. There are no vetoes directed by the government, nor a specific law. Only a series of private decisions that influence a global platform.

This case recalls that, although a content is perfectly legal in a country, if the companies that manage the money decide to block it, Access becomes impossible. A silent but extremely effective form of censorship.

Conservative activism, behind everything

An Australian organization called Collective cryWhich is presented as a movement “against the reification of women and the sexualization of the girls”, has claimed their role in this turning point of steam policy. It is not the first time they get something like that: they have already successfully pressed to retire GTA V. of shops such as Target and Walmart in Australia.

The worrying thing is that, according to Yoko Taro, these decisions not only influence video games with explicit sexual content, but rather this Feel a very dangerous precedent: non -democratically chosen private companies, making decisions that They model what can be culturally consumed in the world.

And now what?

Although Steam has assured that he continues to offer the best titles of his catalog, the shadow of this controversy already planns on other platforms. What will happen if this type of block extends to other genres or themes? What if the payment companies decide that a violent, political or LGBTQ+ game also violates its standards?

The video game sector lives a delicate momentAnd every decision like this opens new wounds. Not only does it affect independent developers who engage in more risky proposals, but all users who see how their freedom to choose begins to reduce themselves without notice.

Freedom of expression in video games, a necessary debate

Yoko Taro’s reflection is not isolated. Other Japanese creators have sometimes expressed their discomfort in the face of international pressures that influence their works, especially when it comes to adapting the contents to more severe markets. Meanwhile, platforms like Itch.io They are still refuges for developers who try to escape these limits, although with a much lower range of steam.

Compared to other media, the video game still fights to be recognized as a form of mature and complex art. But while commercial decisions continue before creative principles, The censorship can come from above, but from the payment catwalk.