Yesterday late into the night, Itch.io hid all NSFW games (hentai, eroge, porn, etc.) which of course includes My Hentai Fantasy. We're still figuring out what the hell is going on exactly, but as many of you might already know, this issue is tied to a group called Collective Shout. They've been pressuring payment processors like Visa and MasterCard to stop offering their services to content they personally dislike or deem morally unacceptable.

Itch is currently reviewing every single NSFW game on the platform. It seems like they're following more or less the same criteria to decide which games stay and which get permanently banned. Based on the current standards they're using and also the ones Steam used a few days ago to remove adult games they labeled as "morally incorrect" My Hentai Fantasy should be safe from any ban here on Itch.io.

We’ve followed every ToS since the beginning of this project not only here on Itch, but also on Discord, Patreon, and every other platform we’re on  and this review shouldn’t affect My Hentai Fantasy. But that doesn’t mean we’re truly safe. Not just us, but every AVN creator is at risk.

I’ve been talking with a few fellow NSFW devs, and honestly, we’re all in limbo right now. Even though we’ve followed all the guidelines, we’re being targeted just because Collective Shout feels entitled to control what people consume and destroy whatever doesn’t align with their "values".

Payment processors should not be allowed to decide what you're allowed to buy. It’s absolutely ridiculous. They should be neutral tools that’s their job. You should be able to buy and enjoy whatever the hell you want (as long as it’s not illegal). The idea that a few Australian Karens can call something “morally incorrect” and have it erased from every platform is insane.

Morality is a loose personal concept. It varies from person to person. What one person sees as bad another might not. And honestly morality in games has always been weird to me, most games involve some form of violence or murder, and that’s just considered normal. But if you show a titty pixel or something as natural as sex, suddenly it’s “morally unacceptable” and shouldn’t exist. As if sex is worse than murder.

This kind of censorship won’t stop at NSFW games. If we let them get away with this, their moral compass will start to dictate everything we’re allowed to consume. Whatever they feel is “bad” that day, gone.

People are launching campaigns against this. Personally, I think it’s really hard to fight back with just a petition on Change.org, it rarely achieves anything concrete… but it’s free and I guess it’s better than nothing. ( https://chng.it/qFrqbtQYdx )

I know many of you follow other NSFW games too, we need to stay united and try to do something about this in any way we can. Some devs have had their entire revenue streams frozen. A lot of us depend on platforms like Itch to gain visibility and bring in new players to fund our work.

So let’s stand together. Your support means everything, not just for us, but for the whole AVN community, especially in dark times like these.

TL;DR:

- My Hentai Fantasy should be safe from the Itch.io ban, but things are still uncertain.

- Fuck Collective Shout.