deusvervemakesgames

[deusvervemakesgames]

Will Ruby survive a third case? Back with more Tyrion Cuthbert!

[deusvervemakesgames]

Steam, Itch.io and the banning of explicit and LGBT+ Content. What can we do?

[All images in this post have alt/id text if you need it or want to copy paste anything]

With no warning, Itch.io, a site where many host their indie games, comics, books and more, has started purging and shadowbanning explicit and LGBT+ works. Creators got no warning. And if they were still owed payouts from these works, Itch.io is saying they won't give them their money as they 'broke the rules'. Rules that were only just set in place, with no warning, and therefore no way for creators to try and draw out their money or delete these 'offending' works before they got banned under the new rules.

So Itch.io has been the most recent to fall to the demands of a group that's been contacting Visa and Mastercard and convincing them to threaten sites/businesses with 'stop selling what we consider to be explicit content on your sites of we'll stop allowing your site to have transactions with Visa and Mastercard'. Steam folded, and now Itchio has too. And a reminder earlier this year Gumroad also stopped allowing explicit content, further back than that Patreon banned some kinks and fetishes even if it's depicted in fiction not real life, and I don't have to explain to you guys the great Tumblr explicit content ban of 2018.

And as always remember this doesn't stop with sexually explicit work as LGBT+ stories and people are often labelled as explicit and already we're seeing works being taken off Itch.io that are about LGBT+ and especially trans stories. Other non-sexually explicit works I've seen already getting shadowbanned, delisted or deleted are SFW games featuring furries/anthros, SFW dress up games (because when you take the clothes the model is nude), and the aforementioned SFW games that include LGBT+ characters and stories.

I'm compiling here information I've seen around various social medias, mostly Bluesky, because I haven't seen all these things shared over here.

I don't personally have explicit content on itch, but I had been considering one day selling things on there and I do currently have explicit content on my Patreon, my main source of income, and am terrified that Patreon is going to fold next (if anyone knows alterative for hosting audio content behind a paid subscription service please let me know so I can start maybe making a back-up in case the worst happens). Because for me personally if Patreon goes next, it's not like I can go out and easily get another job. Not only because in general finding and getting a job is difficult enough, but I'm autistic and have chronic pain and have been constantly getting sick or new pains over the last few years and don't feel safe being trans in the UK right now and all of that combined rules me out of a lot of jobs and makes me feel unsafe to apply to any. I'm so grateful I've been able to make a community around my work, but if Patreon caves next and I just leave my SFW posts on Patreon... 10% of my Patreons are signed up to the SFW tier, 90% are signed up to the explicit tier... I know if Patreon caves I will go from someone living comfortably who's searching to move out of my parents so I can live in a safer environment to someone who can no longer even afford the rent I pay to my parents. I'll try and get an alterative found and set up in case that happens and I can only hope you guys will follow me to whatever other site I have to set up... but it feels unlikely that people will get a whole new account on a whole new payment provider just to support me on a website they might never have heard of...

But what can we do right now?

A petition you can sign (international but you do have to give your name, email, and postal/zip code):

Get calling:

Mastercard (US): 1-800-627-8372

MasterCard (UK): 0800 964 767

Mastercard (International.): +1-636-722-7111

Visa (US + Can): 1 800 847 2911 / 1-800-VISA-911

Visa (AUS): 1 800 125 440

Visa (UK) : 0800 891 725 or use their international call collect +1 303 967 1096

Visa (International): (call collect - it costs them $): +1-303-967-1096

PayPal (US): 1-888-221-1161

PayPal (UK): 0800 358 7911 from landline, +44 203 901 7000 mobile

PayPal (International): 1-402-935-2050

(numbers gathered from these posts X X X )

Don't know what to say on the phone? Here's a script written by timidtanuki:

Creators have had their work removed off Itch.io with no warning and since it's been removed for 'breaking the rules' (rules that were suddenly in place with no warning) they aren't entitled to get their payouts. Just like other sites such as Youtube and Twitch and Etsy, Itch.io hold onto money from their users in a wallet and then give them payouts. So there is money creators have made, are owed, that Itch.io is not giving to them.

People are recommending that if you still have works on Itch.io to turn down the revenue sharing to 0% so that Itch.io no longer takes a cut or your money if you no longer want to support Itchi.io finically but don't want to remove your works from their platform. X

Other Bluesky posts and calls to action I've seen:

radiantg.bsky.social is asking for anyone on Itch.io who got their game deindexed, removed , or payouts turned off to reach out to them (espeically if you make explicit and/or LGBT+ games) for a piece of journalism about what is happening.

sleepyhard.bsky.social is making a threat of all the games that Itch.io has censored/removed from their site search function. Obviously be aware this will include 18+ only games, games with sexual content and other dark or heavy themes.

thetransfemininereview.com wants you to reach out to them if you're a trans creator on Itch.io who is being affected by this so they can make an accurate report. they say 'authors' in their post and I'm unsure if they also want game devs to reach out.

dropdownbear.bsky.com wants you to reach out if you have purchased things on Itch.io that you can now no longer access because of this ban. they can include them in a report being filed with the Australian Consumer Commission as this may be a violation of Australian Consumer rights. If you are Australian you can no longer access things you purchased of Itch.io you can report directly with this guide.

It's a scary time for adult creators and sex workers. It's a scary time to be trans. Support creators. And if anyone knows of any alternate payment providers that allow explicit work, and/or alternate websites to Itch (and in case things get worse, also give me Patreon alternates please) where people can host, sell and/or offer paid subscriptions to writing, images, videos, audios, games and more please leave them in the replies. And please help share this post, the posts I'm linking too, and any other resources you can find.

Minors DNI. Ageless blogs DNI. I want resources and help but I don't reply to this post or follow this blog if you're under 18, this is an explicit blog and not for anyone under 18.

[deusvervemakesgames]

[deusvervemakesgames]

just so we're clear in light of the itch.io adult content ban (with no warning. btw) banning sexual expression in any way shape or form is already fascist and being like "they're going to do queer games next!!!!!!" just makes you look stupid. the fascism is already here dipshit open your eyes

[deusvervemakesgames]

Project RBH DevLog 0112

As I mentioned last week, I upped the number of room options to increase the variations in the procedural generation. It wasn’t too hard to set up, but designing rooms for a game like this is a bit trial and error sometimes. You want to have enough obstacles that there’s interesting cover without being so tight that you can’t maneuver.

I also need to clean up a few rooms where some of the walls are slightly rotated in the editor somehow which somewhat breaks the level generation. (It creates a single-tile invisible wall and the floor doesn’t appear on that tile.)

I’ve also uncovered an exciting game breaking bug in one of the rooms, but that’s also an easy fix; I had a variable too high. I also knew this was a possible issue when I set up that code, so I might go back and fix that up to better future-proof it.

I have not, however, finished adding new rooms. I have four more that I want to add in.

Until Next Devlog!

-DeusVerve

DevLogs like these are brought to you by Patron(s) like Haelerin!

Support me on Patreon to get Early Access to builds!

[deusvervemakesgames]

Postponing tonight's steam; probably no stream next week

[deusvervemakesgames]

It's still incredibly fucked up that my Credit Card company has any say over what I spend my money on.

I'm an adult, I earn my money like everyone else. Who the hell is MasterCard to say what I can and can't spend it on?

[deusvervemakesgames]

*Dead media (assassinated)

[deusvervemakesgames]

Great and now there's this. Theres truly no room for an ounce of complacency this is a direct attack on queer creatives.

Here's a link to the whole thread for more context

[deusvervemakesgames]

obsessed with the official Etrian Odyssey guide on how to use your imagination

[deusvervemakesgames]

Project RBH DevLog 0111

Felt weird to not update last week. I don’t think I’ve ever missed an update except for my holiday breaks, so it was a little disconcerting to have nothing to show. I have however since touched up some things.

If these black holes/magnets pull in enemies, it stands to reason that they should also pull in bullets, correct?

This has a small problem with this, which is that this adds redundancy to the tornadoes/whirlwind effect of pulling in bullets. This was an easy fix; all I did was modify the bullet attraction code so that I could also make it repel bullets. Now tornadoes blow bullets away. I then had to turn down their range of effect to improve the game feel.

This week, I think it’s time I expand on the Procedural Generation options. The room layouts so far have been mostly placeholder, and I can definitely do with having more options to increase variety.

Until Next Devlog!

-DeusVerve

DevLogs like these are brought to you by Patron(s) like Haelerin!

Support me on Patreon to get Early Access to builds!

[deusvervemakesgames]

Court is now in session! More Tyrion Cuthbert!

[deusvervemakesgames]

Whenever the history of video game consoles comes up on this blog, folks tend to be surprised by remarks like describing the PS2 as "sixth generation" – like, if the PS2 was already six generations deep, what the fuck did the other five look like? The idea that home video game consoles have been around since the early 1970s is unexpected to many, and I 100% encourage anybody with an interest in the medium to read up on those early consoles, not only because knowing your history is handy, but because they were often pretty fantastic aesthetically. Like, look at this thing:

This is a Magnavox Odyssey from 1972. I love the juxtaposition of sterile white plastic, faux leather texture, and artificial wood grain – it's like it can't decide whether it wants to be a Star Trek prop or a footrest. However, I personally regard 1977's Coleco Telstar Arcade as the pinnacle of the form, because... well:

Like, this is it, folks. This is what peak performance looks like.

[deusvervemakesgames]

ok time to pirate ubisoft games even harder

[deusvervemakesgames]

We're done with Case 1, onwards to my mentor, who will surely live a long and happy life where she gets to tell me all of the secrets she's keeping! GOing live with Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane!

[deusvervemakesgames]

There's an interesting alchemy by which, for certain TTRPG fans, WotC's misbehavior makes it more moral to play D&D if you're broke.

The logic goes something like this: WotC is bad, and therefore it is good to steal from them. Indie creators are good, and therefore it is bad to steal from them. Therefore, if you don't have money to spend on games, it is moral to play D&D and immoral to play indie games.

For some reason, the fact that this unimpeachable logic only benefits WotC and only harms indie creators is not relevant.