Key Highlights:
- Steam has reportedly blocked some developers from entering its early access programme.
- This ‘ban’ extends to games with ‘mature content’.
- The extent and scope of the ban remain purposefully vague.
A rather recent series of changes from payment processors meant that Steam could no longer sell certain types on games on its storefront. This was followed by what some mighty deem ‘arbitrary censorship’ targeted against games that possessed mature, adult content.
This controversial decision was made worse by payment processors refusing to directly address these issues entirely, which in turn, caused a lot of grief. Now, it would appear that Valve has begun to extend this shadow ban to early access titles as well, which is truly disappointing to witness.
Valve Blocks Games With Mature Content From Entering Steam’s Early Access Programme
Valve seems to have extended its ban on games with mature themes and adult content, with regard to its Steam early access programme. Early access is a major feature of Steam, and provides developers a platform to showcase their currently in-development titles, in addition to giving players the chance to play them early.
As per X user Dammitbird, Steam has denied them entry into the early access programme, citing that they are ‘unable to support’ the model for ‘a game with mature themes’. It should be noted here that Dammitbird’s game, Heavy Hearts, features explicit adult content and was denied support for this very reason.
It seems at best very inconsistent, as there are still a lot of Early Access NSFW titles on Steam.
— Ramblings of a Filipino Nerd (@RamblingsNerd) August 31, 2025
That being said, it's also perfectly possible that NSFW projects post-Aug. 30 may not be eligible for Early Access. https://t.co/2mQzKqcNI2 pic.twitter.com/yPx5HZogzt
However, this does not paint the whole picture, as there still are a handful of adult themed early access titles being readily available on Steam. The ban appears to be very inconsistent as of the time of writing this article.
The War Against Games With ‘Mature Content’
Steam has always had a rather vast library of adult content on its site, and for a while, players could navigate and find these games quite easily.
However, a recent, official change to Steam’s policies made the process quite difficult, and Valve has explicitly mentioned that certain content deemed ‘inappropriate’ by its payment processors would not be accepted into the storefront from now on.
The same was conveyed by other platforms such as Itch.io, which have also cited the same reasons for the removal of adult content. In a nutshell, major players in the industry are being strong armed into following these rules.
Storefronts such as Steam have no choice but to follow these set rules, given how many of their transactions are carried out by payment providers such as Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal (among others).
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What makes matters worse is the fact that this definition of ‘adult content’ is very, very vague and leaves a lot open to interpretation. This ‘financial censorship’ has seen a lot of outrage online, and perhaps rightfully so.
While there is no doubt that certain content on Steam has appeared to be quite problematic at times, this does not represent the majority. If anything, this could set a rather unfortunate trend where we see payment providers dictate what they deem as ‘morally fit’ for the masses.
After all, the definition also fringes into explicit depictions of horror, queer, and ‘unusual games’ as well. To what degree the depiction of said content will be acceptable remains anyone’s guess right now. All of this sounds rather nefarious and could be the start of a major censorship wave (which already seems to be taking place) against existing content in media such as video games.
Unfortunately, until we have access to proper third party solutions, these issues will continue to linger.
