Credit card companies, long suspected of being the shadowy puppeteers behind last year’s sweeping purge of adult games from Steam and other PC storefronts, might finally be seeing the brakes applied to their crusade. A recent announcement from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suggests the tide is turning.

On the 26th, FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson fired off a stern letter to major financial infrastructure and payment gatekeepers—PayPal, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard—reminding them of their obligations under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Ferguson stated, "Law-abiding individuals should be able to access the financial system to engage in commerce and public life," while noting that the executive order on 'de-banking' issued by President Trump last year makes it crystal clear: cutting off financial access for law-abiding citizens based on political affiliation or religious beliefs is simply not on.

He further warned that discarding terms of service or common sense to cut off a customer’s financial access without just cause—or, for that matter, pressuring other companies to do the same—could very well be a violation of the Federal Trade Act. Should they persist in such behaviour, they remain firmly in the crosshairs for potential FTC investigations and enforcement actions.

While the FTC's letter doesn't explicitly name 'adult content regulation,' it is expected to have a significant ripple effect on the mass blocking and removal of adult games that plagued the industry last year. A plethora of adult titles were scrubbed from Steam, itch.io, and other platforms, leading many gamers to suspect a connection to the sudden cessation of Visa and Mastercard payments on sites like the Japanese doujin platform DLsite back in 2024.

As it turns out, those suspicions were spot on. In July, Steam updated its content distribution rules and guidelines to include content that might violate the standards of payment processors—specifically targeting certain types of adult-only material—effectively exposing the pressure coming from the credit card giants. itch.io management also publicly confirmed they were "under investigation by payment processors regarding the nature of some content" on their site.

The FTC’s missive effectively covers these restrictions imposed by card companies on Steam and other PC storefronts. The warning explicitly flags that blocking legally permissible adult content—which falls within the realm of free expression—and bullying other companies into following suit, could constitute a violation of the Federal Trade Act.

With the FTC finally cracking the whip, gamers are now watching closely to see if the restrictive grip on adult games across Steam and other platforms will loosen up.