July 25th Update
More important than what I've been working on, is what's going on with online store fronts.
I'm sure everyone knows but over the last couple weeks, we saw both steam and now Itch.IO get hit with pressure from payment processors to remove certain adult content. Even if you're not a fan of the particular subset of content they removed, its important to know that stuff like this is always a baby step, and will lead to MORE stuff getting removed.
More importantly, payment processors should not be dictating what people can legally sell. If you want to create a legitimate business, it shouldn't be controlled or hamstrung by a payment processor.
This stuff has been getting worse over the years, and its going beyond ridiculous. The normal argument is these particular industries cause charge back and other issues for the credit companies, but in this case, steam and itch take care of their own refunds. Its all about control and its getting tiring.
Besides starting our own payment processor, there's not a ton that can be done besides complaining loudly, and doing it to the right people. (Not Valve or Itch).
The ACLU has a petition going. I'm not sure how much weight that would carry, but maybe it'll get them more heavily involved
and if you're feeling it, you can contact m
astercard directly: This was a larger document but I don't feel comfortable doxxing people, even executives.
It sucks that we're at this point. If you feel like calling or signing, I'd appreciate it, if not, I understand, there's a lot of other stuff going on, and energy is low now a days.
Otherwise I hope everyone has a wonderful week!