Steam, the largest PC gaming platform has recently updated their rules for developers to prohibit content that may run afoul of the nebulous standards of payment processors.

According to Automaton, the new rules remain vague and directly mention how this restriction is mandated by payment processors such as card networks and banks. Saying that developers should not submit:

Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult only content.

In recent months, payment processors such as Visa and Mastercard have been throwing their weight around to try and effectively ban content they find disagreeable. Sites in both Japan and the west have been hit with these restrictions, victims include Patreon, Fansly, and Japanese retailers such as DLSite.

After Fansly effectively banned certain VTubers and content creators, many of them moved to RPlay.

Japan has been particularly targeted by these efforts. Earlier this year, payment processors allegedly withheld funds from developers who sold their game on Steam based solely on their game’s “objectionable” content.

As a result of being targeted, Japanese retailers and lawmakers are becoming the largest obstacle to payment processor censorship, with free speech activist Councilman Yamada Taro and former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida calling out payment processors as the problem.

Furthermore, multiple adult games were removed from Steam in a short period, likely coinciding with the new rules update. It’s unclear what chilling effect these rules will have on Steam’s burgeoning adult games market.