No, Mouthwashing Wasn't Removed From Itch.io Because of the NSFW Purge

With the en-masse removal of NSFW games from major gaming marketplaces taking place alongside the Orwellian Online Safety Act coming into effect in the UK, it's fair to say that the issue of censorship in the gaming industry has never been more prominent – at least as far as the Western side of the industry is concerned.

That's why, when Wrong Organ's Co-Founder and Audio Lead Martin Halladin announced that the studio's award-winning game Mouthwashing had become one of the victims of the purge, it was no surprise that many immediately assumed that, after targeting adult games, activists and payment processors had moved on to horror titles. However, as it turned out, not everything was quite as Halladin described, and while an even darker and dystopian wave of suppression still looms on the horizon, it hasn't fully arrived just yet.

So, the story goes a little something like this: On Monday, the developer posted a statement in a now-deleted Twitter thread, claiming that Mouthwashing had been removed from Itch.io's search results, making it accessible only via direct link. According to Halladin, this was part of a mass deletion of "spicy" games on Itch.io and Steam, urging fans to direct their anger not at the marketplace itself, but at Collective Shout – the activist group largely responsible for what's happening – as well as Visa and MasterCard.

However, as soon as the dev's announcement started gaining traction and making headlines, Itch.io addressed the claim directly, stating that Mouthwashing hadn't been indexed since October of last year due to not meeting the website's indexing criteria.

As per Itch.io's account – which ended up being true – Wrong Organ had removed all playable files from the game's page as far back as 2024, with the "Download" button simply redirecting users to Mouthwashing's Steam page, which was the reason why the game wasn't showing up in search results, not the wave of censorship.

When the truth of the situation surfaced, Halladin quickly deleted the original thread and issued an apology, claiming it had been an incorrect assumption on his part. That, in turn, while ending one debacle, sparked another – raising the question of whether it was indeed a genuine error or a failed attempt to score sympathy points by using the mass delisting of NSFW games to promote Mouthwashing.

On one hand, Halladin's apology could very well be sincere – just an honest mistake, nothing more. However, some found the developer's explanation unconvincing, questioning how the studio's Co-Founder could be unaware that the game hadn't been indexed for nearly a year and reading the apology less like "I'm sorry" and more like "I'm sorry I got caught." With both interpretations equally plausible – and equally impossible to prove – it's up to everyone to decide for themselves whether Wrong Organ deserves the benefit of the doubt.

So, what's your take on the situation? Was it an honest mistake or a deplorable promotional tactic? When will activists start coming after horror games as well? Let us know down in the comments!