Valve has publicly challenged Mastercard’s claims regarding content restrictions on Steam, revealing that payment processors cited Mastercard’s rules to pressure the gaming platform into modifying its content policies. In a statement to Kotaku, Valve explained that while Mastercard never communicated with them directly “despite our request to do so,” intermediaries including payment processors and their acquiring banks applied pressure citing Mastercard’s Rule 5.12.7.
The rule in question gives Mastercard broad authority to restrict transactions for content it deems damaging to its brand or “patently offensive.” Specifically, it states merchants cannot submit transactions that are illegal or, at Mastercard’s discretion, may damage the company’s reputation or reflect negatively on its brand.
When confronted by these concerns, Valve defended Steam’s longstanding policy of only distributing games that are legal for sale. However, according to Valve, payment processors rejected this explanation, specifically referencing Mastercard’s risk assessment and Rule 5.12.7 as justification.
This situation shows just how much power payment processors have over digital marketplaces. By controlling access to financial networks, these companies can pretty much decide what content is available to consumers, even if that content is totally legal.
The rule specifically bans transactions involving materials deemed to lack “serious artistic value” or considered “patently offensive,” including examples like sexual exploitation of minors and nonconsensual content. Breaches can result in fines, audits, or service termination by payment processors.
Steam, with hundreds of millions of users worldwide, has generally maintained a policy since 2018 of allowing developers to self-publish games as long as the content is legal in the relevant regions. This approach has made it a vital platform for indie developers creating games with adult or controversial themes.
Show me the money
The broad wording of Mastercard’s rule—allowing restriction of anything that “may damage the goodwill of the Corporation”—gives the company enormous discretion over what products can be sold using their payment network, regardless of the legal status of those products.
Valve’s openness about what’s going on here calls out how decisions about what media we can access online are less about laws or open discussion, and more about what private financial giants decide behind closed doors.
