Valve Enforces Adult Content Ban on Steam to Retain Payment Firms

Valve is strengthening its policies regarding 'adult only' content to meet the requirements set by Steam's payment processing partners. Throughout the week, dozens of sexually explicit games have been removed from the platform.

As reported by GameSpark and shared by Automaton, SteamDB logs indicate significant behind-the-scenes activity as Steam updated its 'Rules and Guidelines' policy. The revisions clarify that publishing "certain kinds" of adult-only content may constitute a violation.

The newly added clause 15 in the policy now explicitly prohibits content on Steam that "may violate the rules and standards established by Steam’s payment processors, associated card networks and banks, or internet service providers."

The SteamDB X / Twitter account disclosed an extensive list of pornographic games recently delisted from Steam.

This situation may be related to PayPal, as users in certain regions have been unable to use it for Steam payments for the past five days.

Permanent link to the list of removed store items: https://t.co/Vy44Q0hVGN

— SteamDB (@SteamDB) July 16, 2025

This development follows public criticism earlier this year when UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle condemned Steam for hosting a sexually explicit visual novel featuring a protagonist involved in non-consensual acts, including rape and incest. After the game was delisted in the UK, Canada, and Australia, developer Zerat Games announced it would voluntarily withdraw the visual novel.

However, Valve's updated guidelines have drawn criticism from some quarters, with concerns raised about potential censorship and the ambiguous wording of the new rules.

In unrelated news, we recently covered Valve co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell, who provided a rare glimpse into his lifestyle aboard the superyacht he refers to as his "boat," where he lives, works, and relaxes.