A UK-based programmer claims that PayPal has frozen more than £80,000 in earnings tied to their work on adult-oriented titles sold on Steam. The developer, who discussed the issue in a Reddit post, says the payment giant cited a breach of its Acceptable Use Policy as the reason for withholding the funds.

PayPal’s Ban on Digital Adult Content

According to the programmer, PayPal classified their revenue as being connected to sexually oriented digital content, a category explicitly banned under the platform’s worldwide terms of service. While PayPal permits some transactions for physical adult products in the U.S., it restricts all digital goods that fall under its definition of adult material, leaving developers of erotic or mature games vulnerable to sudden freezes.

The programmer insists their work is entirely legal under UK law and stresses that none of the sales were processed directly through PayPal. Instead, they were paid indirectly for development contributions to a Steam-published title. Despite this, PayPal determined that the income was still in violation of its rules, effectively locking the funds indefinitely.

Wider Crackdown on Adult Games

This occurs within the context of a widespread ban of adult games on all digital stores. Earlier this PayPal informed Valve that it will not be processing payments of certain currencies related to Steam. This further coincides with a plethora of adult content bans across monetized platforms, and gave rise to the theory that payment processing companies are starting to dictate the rules of allocation.

For the developer, this is not the first time they’ve been caught in the crossfire. They note that traditional banks and fintech services such as Wise and Revolut have previously shut down their accounts due to the nature of their work. PayPal had been their attempt at finding stability, but now, with tens of thousands of pounds locked up for over a month, they say they are once again searching for an alternative solution.

The case highlights the precarious position of adult game creators in the global market, where payment services, rather than regulators, often dictate what kind of content can exist commercially. For small developers in particular, the risk of sudden “debanking” may threaten not just projects, but entire livelihoods.