UK’s biggest gaming platform pulls hundreds of rape & incest games after LBC investigation, but shocking titles remain
Hundreds of rape and incest games have been removed from the UK's biggest online gaming platform Steam after they were highlighted by LBC, though titles featuring sexual abuse are still available despite recent changes in the law.
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In April, we revealed a shocking adult simulation game called "No Mercy" was available to download with minimal age checks.
It centred around a male protagonist who was encouraged to "become every woman's worst nightmare", and "never take no for an answer".
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, who's responsible for overseeing the government's online safety strategy, described the game as "deeply worrying" and demanded the tech giant take it down, before its developer Zerat Games voluntarily removed it from sale, bowing to pressure from LBC.
But our reporting highlighted hundreds of rape and incest games were still available on Steam to download, despite the platform's own rules banning “adult content that isn’t appropriately labelled or age gated,” and "content that is patently offensive or intended to shock or disgust viewers."
The guidelines were expanded last month to include “content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors” including “certain kinds of adult content”.
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It means almost 80% of titles which showed up under the search terms "rape" or "incest" have been removed from the world's biggest online game store.
This amounts to hundreds of extreme games.
However, LBC has been able to find games involving incest, "non-consensual" sex, sexual assault, sexual harassment, "dubious consent" and "unwanted groping" still available on Steam, despite Ofcom's Online Safety Act (OSA) stipulating that "illegal content" featuring extreme pornography, controlling or coercive behaviour, and harassment, stalking threats and abuse must be removed from sites operating in the UK.
But OSA doesn't cover games which don't have a player-to-player chat function. Ofcom said: “Not all games are in-scope of the Online Safety Act. Where they are, our supervision teams have ongoing discussions with the gaming industry to ensure compliance."
"The most controversial titles, the ones that we were most concerned about, have been taken off the platform," says LBC's technology correspondent Will Guyatt.
"There is a situation here where some people seem to think that these games that promoted rape promoted all of these kind of terrible, terrible themes … should be allowed back on these platforms … if anybody thinks it's appropriate for a rape fantasy video game to exist, they should have a long hard chat with themselves."
Steam's removal of the most extreme titles came shortly before the OSA was rolled out further in July, with new Children Codes requiring robust age-checks for adult content.
But the games were deleted because of financial pressure rather than Ofcom or the UK government. Valve - Steam's parent company - said it was recently told that "certain games" may "violate the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their related card networks and banks...as a result, we are retiring those games from being sold on the Steam Store".
"I think it makes clear that money always talks," Lorna Woods, an expert advisor to the Online Safety Act Network - an independent body monitoring the implementation of the OSA - told LBC.
"We've seen this before...a couple of years ago, Pornhub changed its approach to content moderation following restrictions imposed by payment service operators. It's an essential part of their business. It stops the money flow andthat's always going to attract their attention".
The OSA gives Ofcom the power "in the most severe" breaches of the code to seek a court order imposing “business disruption measures”.
This could mean asking a payment or advertising provider to withdraw from the business' service, or asking an internet service provider to limit access in order to pressure a platform to comply.
"It gives Ofcom the opportunity to cut the money flow in a way," says Ms Woods. "So potentially this is quite a strong mechanism".
Thousands of gamers have criticised the removal of the adult titles, blaming 'interference' from Mastercard and Visa. Nearly 250,000 people have signed a petition demanding payment processors "stop controlling what we can watch, read, or play".
Mastercard has told LBC the company has "not evaluated any game or required restrictions of any activity on game creator sites and platforms" but "requires merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content".
Visa declined to comment, but pointed us to its Network Integrity guidelines which outlines its "tireless pursuit to keep illegal [adult] activity off our network".
PayPal says the company doesn't comment on individual customer accounts, but "will take appropriate action when we identify activity that violates the law, our policies, or the policies of our partner banks and card networks".