Amid ongoing disputes between credit card companies and adult-themed games, which are stirring up worries about censorship on platforms like Steam and even independent sites such as itch.io, a
recent statement
from Yoko Taro, the director behind Nier: Automata, is gaining renewed significance. He previously cautioned that censorship poses “a security risk that threatens democracy itself.”
These remarks initially surfaced last November when Manga Library Z, a digital archive providing access to out-of-print manga, was compelled to cease operations. The organization pointed the finger at international credit card processors, likely Visa and Mastercard, claiming they demanded the platform
should censor certain terms
within its offerings of adult manga.
“The publishing sphere has traditionally faced regulations exceeding legal boundaries, yet the capability of a payment processor, integral to content distribution, to impose such restrictions unilaterally strikes me as profoundly perilous,” Taro expressed in a statement,
according to translations provided by Automaton
.
He elaborated:
This suggests that wielding influence over payment processing enterprises empowers the censorship of free expression in other nations. I perceive this as more than mere censorship of adult-oriented material or a threat to freedom of expression; it represents a security loophole that jeopardizes the very essence of democracy.
Thanks to a successful crowdfunding drive
earlier in the year
, Manga Library Z managed to resume its services. However, developers creating adult games with potentially controversial themes are now confronting analogous obstacles on platforms such as Steam and itch.io because of recent organized boycott campaigns. Certain artists and followers have initiated counter-boycotts, urging Visa, Mastercard, and similar entities to cease what they deem a “moral panic.” One such online petition
has gathered close to 100,000 signatures.
Naomi Clark, the chair of NYU Game Center,
told 404 Media
this week, “Some of the games facing change on Itch are games that up-and-coming creators have made about lived experiences navigating abusive relationships, coping with personal trauma, or even coming out, and exploring same-sex relationships.” As an example of the kind of content at risk of censorship through changing standards of acceptability, she highlighted Jenny Jiao Hsia’s autobiographical game,
Consume Me
.
.