sh.sePublications
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • harvard-anglia-ruskin-university
  • apa-old-doi-prefix.csl
  • sodertorns-hogskola-harvard.csl
  • sodertorns-hogskola-oxford.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
How do adult game developers deal with platform censorship?
Södertörn University, School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, Media Technology.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5247-6807
2026 (English)In: Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games / [ed] Phil Lopes,Author, Foaad Khosmood, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2026, article id 67Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Recent platform crackdowns on adult content, driven by payment processors and anti-porn advocacy groups, have made platform governance an increasingly important issue for game developers. Adult games provide a visible case of how moderation policies reshape both distribution and design practices. This paper presents exploratory findings based on analysing multiple versions of pornographic games and tracking content changes around moments when new platform restrictions were introduced. The analysis identifies three recurring adaptation strategies: (1) modifying content to meet platform standards, (2) externalising explicit material through (Semi)official patches, and (3) using Code words that preserve meaning while avoiding explicit categorisation. These practices suggest that developers and players rely on shared folk theories of discovery to navigate regulatory constraints. Rather than producing simple compliance, platform censorship appears to reorganise adult game ecosystems and shape design decisions, influencing how themes are represented, mechanics communicate meaning, and content is modularised across platforms.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2026. article id 67
Series
FDG: Foundations of Digital Games
Keywords [en]
Pornographic games, platform, regulation, censorship
National Category
Human Computer Interaction
Research subject
Other research area
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-61127DOI: 10.1145/3815598.3815665ISBN: 9798400724954 (electronic)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:sh-61127DiVA, id: diva2:2092385
Conference
FDG '26: Foundations of Digital Games Copenhagen Denmark August 10 - 13, 2026
Available from: 2026-08-14 Created: 2026-08-14 Last updated: 2026-08-21Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(411 kB)23 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 411 kBChecksum SHA-512
62dd0679efba2c2f450d7678de214b345ab8feca372779245be6b455f22a3edd9d0cbb6b0978b3dc3111b5dd2ddb31fd7341182fb8152fbcb6a576de131751ae
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full texthttps://dl.acm.org/doi/book/10.1145/3815598

Authority records

Lankoski, Petri

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Lankoski, Petri
By organisation
Media Technology
Human Computer Interaction

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
isbn
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
isbn
urn-nbn
Total: 92 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • harvard-anglia-ruskin-university
  • apa-old-doi-prefix.csl
  • sodertorns-hogskola-harvard.csl
  • sodertorns-hogskola-oxford.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf