Payment processors/banks should not be the arbiters of ethics. If a thing is legal, they should be REQUIRED to handle it, or lose their ability to conduct business nationwide.
They should but Americans (where processors are based) will use them as a tool when needed. Also their government could make phony allegations and they would have to enforce them. We need more processors world wide! I hope that EU does it right this time.
I always figured they could just charge the card for a “gift card” for that amount… Which then immediately gets used for the “adult themed” game. Or at least allow the games to be sold on the store only with gift cards.
But if you count indirect tools, I think the propaganda out there is more effective. There are school districts where somebody on the school board encountered a bit of propaganda, and then before you know it, the school district is choosing on its own to censor their own libraries of things like LGBTQ+ materials.
No can do. Governments will ask them for age verification. Valve will instead swiftly remove anything with kinky dialogue and move on. True story by the way. Happened in Germany and no, it had nothing to do with protecting customers on Steam’s side because the age verification process authorities asked for protects your identity. Valve simply didn’t want to deal with it. To be fair it was a bullshit demand anyway but Sony didn’t seem to have any problems implementing it so this is a Valve thing.
Tag as adult and move on.
Wasn’t there an issue with credit card processors threatening them?
Payment processors/banks should not be the arbiters of ethics. If a thing is legal, they should be REQUIRED to handle it, or lose their ability to conduct business nationwide.
They should but Americans (where processors are based) will use them as a tool when needed. Also their government could make phony allegations and they would have to enforce them. We need more processors world wide! I hope that EU does it right this time.
Valve could probably just start their own bank at this point.
Steam Bank? Steam Vault? Oh Steam Treasury! Steam Financial Alliance, i would immediately dump the parasites i have now.
PayValve, if Gabe wanted to be on the nose and take the piss out of Paypal.
Steam Tank is right there
Just call it Condensation.
Valve Liquidity
Aperture Finance
I always figured they could just charge the card for a “gift card” for that amount… Which then immediately gets used for the “adult themed” game. Or at least allow the games to be sold on the store only with gift cards.
That does sound like a payment processor!
Financial censorship is a useful tool for people who want stuff censored.
It’s their most effective tool at this point.
I’d say it’s their most effective direct tool.
But if you count indirect tools, I think the propaganda out there is more effective. There are school districts where somebody on the school board encountered a bit of propaganda, and then before you know it, the school district is choosing on its own to censor their own libraries of things like LGBTQ+ materials.
No can do. Governments will ask them for age verification. Valve will instead swiftly remove anything with kinky dialogue and move on. True story by the way. Happened in Germany and no, it had nothing to do with protecting customers on Steam’s side because the age verification process authorities asked for protects your identity. Valve simply didn’t want to deal with it. To be fair it was a bullshit demand anyway but Sony didn’t seem to have any problems implementing it so this is a Valve thing.