PayPal Decides Adult Games Are Immoral, Seizes £80,000 From a Dev to Prove It
In the ongoing war against adult content, PayPal has become the latest financial platform to play judge, jury, and executioner with a developer's livelihood.
Navigating the world as a developer of adult games is like walking through a minefield blindfolded. But instead of explosives, the ground is littered with the vague and puritanical terms of service of financial institutions. The latest casualty in this war on digital horniness is a UK-based programmer who claims PayPal has frozen their account, holding a life-altering £80,000 of their earnings hostage for over a month. Their crime? Working on a game for adults.
This isn't just a simple account dispute; it's another shot fired in the escalating crackdown on adult content that's been sweeping across digital platforms like Steam. After being forced to seek legal advice on Reddit, the developer's story sheds a harsh light on just how precarious it is to make a living creating perfectly legal content that someone, somewhere, might clutch their pearls over.
Guilty by Association
Here’s the kicker that makes this whole situation a complete farce: the developer wasn't even selling the game through PayPal. The £80,000 wasn't revenue from customers buying naughty pixels. It was their income, the money they were paid for their programming work on a game legally published on Steam. The game itself, according to the programmer, contains nothing that would violate UK law.
Despite this, PayPal determined that simply being paid for involvement in an adult-oriented project constituted a breach of their terms of service. They have effectively punished someone not for a transaction, but for the nature of their legitimate profession.
The Fine Print Giveth, and the Fine Print Taketh Away
PayPal, of course, pointed to its sacred texts. The platform’s Acceptable Use Policy forbids using their services for transactions involving "certain sexually oriented materials or services". Their policy is especially draconian when it comes to digital goods, which are forbidden worldwide. The policy also includes a handy clause stating that they decide what qualifies on a "case-by-case basis," which is corporate-speak for "we can do whatever the fuck we want". This vague wording gives them the power to financially cripple someone based on a subjective moral judgment, regardless of the legality of the work being done.
Nowhere Left to Bank
As if the situation wasn't bleak enough, the developer revealed this is a recurring nightmare. They’ve been de-platformed and had their business closed multiple times by major banks and even modern "app banks" like Wise and Revolut, all because of the content they create. The tragic irony is that they resorted to using PayPal specifically to avoid the risk of being suddenly de-banked again. The supposed safe haven turned out to be the most punitive of them all.
This incident isn't happening in a vacuum. It follows reports from last month that PayPal had already suspended some payments on Steam, a move many suspect is tied to this same crusade against adult games. It paints a grim picture for any developer working in the adult space. When the platforms you build on are hostile and the services you get paid through can confiscate your earnings based on a whim, making a living becomes less about coding and mo