The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has released a statement condemning the recent crackdown on games featuring adult themes on PC storefronts, calling for "greater transparency and fairness" in the moderation of adult games. The statement comes after both Steam and Itch.io caved to pressure from payment processors--themselves targeted by anti-porn lobby group Collective Shout--and abruptly delisted or deindexed a number of games with adult themes.While IGDA stresses that it is not defending the circulation of harmful material--which many of the delisted games would certainly qualify as--it says that the current enforcement of these policies is vague and lacks transparency, leading to "delisting and deplatforming legal, consensual, and ethically developed games, especially from LGBTQ+ and marginalized creators.""Developers report games being delisted or hidden despite prior approval or longstanding presence on these platforms," the statement says. "The lack of transparency around enforcement criteria, sudden shifts in policy, and an absence of appeal pathways leave creators with no clear path to compliance or recourse.""Further reports suggest that recent policy changes are driven in large part by pressure from payment processors like Visa, Mastercard, and others, who may threaten to withhold payment processing services from platforms hosting adult content," IDGA continues. "As a result, financial institutions are now influencing which stories can be told and sold in games, with minimal transparency or public accountability."IDGA is calling for clearer guidelines from both platforms and payment processors to "distinguish prohibited content from lawful adult expression," saying it's important that games as an artistic medium can tell stories about "intimacy, pleasure, trauma, or identity."IGDA is also calling on platforms to provide clearer communication and specific reasons to affected devs, including "structured appeals and revision pathways" when a game is found to be potentially in breach. It also recommends the formation of advisory panels made up of experts and marginalized creators, as well as regular transparency reports on what enforcement actions have been taken."This issue is not just about adult content. It is about developer rights, artistic freedom, and the sustainability of diverse creative work in games," the statement concludes. IGDA's statement calls on platforms, payment processors, and games industry leaders to come together in meaningful conversation on the issue.The organization also provides contact details for Visa and Mastercard, urging people to get in touch with the major payment processors to make their concerns around financial censorship heard--and gamers have been doing just that. Gaming communities across social media have organized campaigns to put pressure on the two payment processors, flooding both companies with calls and emails registering their concern about censorship on gaming platforms.