In response to the recent situation in which digital gaming platforms have tightened their censorship and removed games for violent and adult content, GOG (Good Old Games), a gaming platform that boasts of selling content with countless copyrights, hasCooperate with multiple developers,roll outA sales event called "Freedom to Buy", advocating for the protection of creators' freedom of expression, while offering players a limited 48-hour free download of 13 games with adult or controversial themes.
GOG has launched a dedicated website, "FreedomtoBuy.games," emphasizing that this campaign is a response to the current phenomenon of digital gaming platforms quietly erasing creative works. GOG noted that major digital game stores, including Steam and Itch.io, have recently removed games with adult, violent, or controversial content due to pressure from their payment systems, sparking concerns within the industry about creative freedom and content preservation.
The 13 games available for free download include "Leap of Love", "Being a DIK – Season 1", "HuniePop", "Agony + Agony Unrated", "House Party", "Lust Theory", "Treasure of Nadia", "Sapphire Safari" and so on, covering a variety of styles such as visual novels, love simulations and extreme violent adventures.
Among them, "POSTAL 2" was banned from sale by the New Zealand government in 2004 due to its violent content, and was removed from the German Steam platform in 2016. And "HuniePop," which combines puzzles with adult content, is one of the games that Twitch explicitly prohibits from live streaming.
GOG pointed out that although these games are controversial, they are also a symbol of the diversity of gaming culture. It emphasized that gaming platforms should play a role in preserving and inheriting diverse creative content, and should not exclude them from the market due to pressure from some non-profit organizations or payment mechanism standards.
GOG's move is also a response to recent developments on Steam and Itch.io, including Valve's recent crackdown on adult and extreme content, which has resulted in the removal of some games due to non-compliance with its payment processors' content standards. Itch.io also stated that pressure from groups like the Australian nonprofit Collective Shout has resulted in the inability to list or even the removal of some games.
However, Itch.io also emphasized that it is trying to get more free adult games back on the platform, and is continuing to negotiate with payment institutions to seek the possibility of resuming the sale of paid adult content.
This "Freedom to Buy" campaign isn't just a short-term initiative; it reflects the current shift in digital platforms' approach to content management and the difficult balance they face between ethical standards, regulatory pressures, and operational risks. GOG stands for content preservation and creative freedom, and through this limited-time free offer, it's a voice for players, emphasizing that games shouldn't disappear silently and that creative works should be respected and preserved.
While many large platforms choose to follow payment mechanisms or external ethical standards, GOG's actions undoubtedly provide a different line of defense for "freedom of game creation" and once again remind people that content freedom in the digital age should not be monopolized by censorship or labeling.
