The world of video games is currently undergoing a seismic wave of censorship. Over the last few weeks, payment processors, thanks to a group called Collective Shout, have been putting pressure on game distribution services to remove adult games. Both Steam and Itch.io have fallen foul of the campaign, which has seen hundreds of games removed or restricted on the platforms.
While gamers are banding together to fight the censorship, and some platforms, like GOG, are remaining defiant, what started as a fight against games that included 'r*pe' and 'inc*st' could devolve into a full-on war against video games as a whole, with Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row seen as being "at risk".
Although Collective Shout is seen as the torchbearer of this campaign, it seems like the root of this censorship goes further back, with a video from almost exactly a year ago resurfacing featuring US government official Russel Vought expressing his plans to implement a "national ban on p*rnography".
Russel Vought is a conservative political analyst and government official serving as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. He is one of the central figures in the creation of Project 2025, an initiative designed...