Indie hit Mouthwashing no longer appears on the game distribution platform itch.io, and audio designer Martin Halldin is understandably pissed.
Mouthwashing Caught in itch.io Payment Crossfire
Indie game marketplace itch.io recently “deindexed” all adult NSFW content on its platform due to pressure from payment processors like MasterCard and PayPal, who, in turn, are under scrutiny from the Collective Shout campaign for profiting from games that portray “the objectification of women and the sexualisation of girls.”
It appears that Mouthwashing, a game that does not fall under the NSFW criteria that Collective Shout is targeting, has also fallen victim to deindexing.
Searching for the game on itch.io results in an asset of Curly Websfisher, one of the game’s characters, and that’s it. Otherwise, there’s no game, which means no sales for its team.
Interestingly, the game remains available on Steam, despite the Collective Shout campaign targeting both platforms. This makes the situation more confusing. It’s most likely a mistake on itch.io’s end, but a costly one. Also, note that Halldin made this post today while the deindexing happened last week. Did they just notice the delisting, or has Mouthwashing been gone this entire time?
Fortunately, you can still access the game if you have its page link, but search results are the fastest way toward discoverability.
Is Mouthwashing Considered NSFW?
Having played Mouthwashing myself, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t contain any of the inappropriate content that Collective Shout is going after.
In fact, Mouthwashing is an excellent exploration of the human psyche and what working a meaningless job will do to someone’s self-worth. It features nuanced relationships among the main character’s slow descent into madness, and while it’s certainly not a game for kids, it’s no more violent or inappropriate than something like The Last of Us.
Here’s hoping the situation resolves itself sooner rather than later, and that the game’s Steam release remains unaffected.
itch.io noted that it would restore NSFW games after introducing new compliance measures, including one where “creators must confirm their content is allowable under the policies of the respective payment processors.”
Whether or not this will return Mouthwashing to the platform’s search results is yet to be seen.
