Idea for an adult game site

[MGGEDev]

Makes sense. You can probably offer a small discount when the user uses a more 'preferred' payment method, so you don't end up with 98% users using CC anyway.

By the way there is no reason to deal with the complexity of smart contract at first... the most prominent issues associated with crypto are not really solved by smart contracts. The issues are:

1. Buyers laundry illegal money via crypto. For example, someone stole a credit card or even a physical vouch card, then they buy games through your shop, then they resell the games/account.
2. Sellers simply don't deliver the promised product.

A Steam-like system kind solved 2 (manually review the game + a refund policy + holding the devs' money for certain amount of time + $100 initial fee). But obviously it's quite a hassle as well...

I don't know if there is a real solution to 1.

A smart contract could also include the ability to refund games if needed and the payout can be held in escrow for a short time to accommodate for situations like that.

People also use stolen cards and launder cash without crypto so it doesn't really matter, people will do it anyway. Even "normal" stores deal with that problem all the time via things like "friendly fraud".

in the beginning (it will take at least an year for them to have you on they're radar) i don't think we can skip CC companies , but using a middle man should be enough for the site to be ok long enough to find an alternative.
and maybe something with more knowledge in that regard can give us some ideas

Yeah it would probably work for a while but definitely not forever.

 

[BlackKnight6666]

Absolutely and that’s the elephant in the room.

Even if we use adult-compliant processors like CCBill or SegPay, they’re still ultimately tethered to Visa/Mastercard policies, and as we’ve seen before, it only takes one policy shift or public scandal for those dominoes to fall.

That’s why I think the only sustainable option is to support multiple payment methods from day one, so we’re not reliant on a single chokepoint. For example:

• Card → wallet top-ups through processors like CCBill or Paxum (when allowed)
• Crypto (BTC, ETH, stablecoins) — already widely used in NSFW circles
• Direct SEPA transfers or even prepaid vouchers if we get big enough
• Fallback options: gift codes, game tokens, etc.

No one solution is bulletproof though, but if we diversify from the start, we’re at least more resilient than being fully exposed through Stripe or PayPal like some devs are now.

Worst-case, even if Visa pushes a processor to drop us, we’d still have crypto + alternative flows to keep the doors open. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than relying on Steam to stay brave forever.

Open to other ideas too, it’s clear this has to be baked into the foundation if we’re going to build something that lasts.

i think steam will change at some point... GabeN is not that young and they already fall under pressure so...

there are some direct payment options , but they are pretty small. europe has a few.

but in the end we will end up with people giving CC info that will transfer to whatever and then to buy a game. in the end people have money on CC. i don't think w can skip this step. i mean people will not use it if it's too hard.
and also it has to be trustworthy , it's peoples money after all

 

[taiki_wata]

A smart contract could also include the ability to refund games if needed and the payout can be held in escrow for a short time to accommodate for situations like that.

Sure but the actual time / money consuming part is not to hold the tokens. It's to manually review which is actual fraud and which is just the player doesn't like the game.

People also use stolen cards and launder cash without crypto so it doesn't really matter, people will do it anyway. Even "normal" stores deal with that problem all the time via things like "friendly fraud".

I think whether it really matters highly depends on which country you are. You can be held to account for money laundry if you don't care.

 

[MGGEDev]

Sure but the actual time / money consuming part is not to hold the tokens. It's to manually review which is actual fraud.



I think whether it really matters highly depends on which country you are.

True!

And sorry, I worded that terribly. I meant more along the lines of as long as you're shown to be "trying" to do something to deal with it and prevent it, it should be ok.

I'm just throwing out random thinking points anyway, I'm not saying this is definitely correct or the right way to go

 

[DoAdventures]

I've setup a barebones Discord

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[ZoneTan20]

Just some thoughts.

If you're searching for suggestions on countries to host the site, ask e-hentai and other websites (who only operate on crypto) where their sites are situated/hosted.

They have lasted this long, unlike sites that have had problems (panda? or something I can't remember). As you can see banks and credit cards/payent processors have been doing this for a while so it's not a recent phenomenon. e-hentai has it's own

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where discussions on crypto and news on banks/payment processors. You can possibly ask the site admin for advice directly in a pm.

---

Of course crypto itself is a huge obstacle to overcome for the average person (including myself) who isn't well versed in how to get into it, also I'm very lazy and risk adverse, you can call it being scurred I guess. So it may be just whales contributing to e-hentai.

Also e-hentai are just receiving donations (chill), which is a different ball-game to selling digital products (serious).

 

[taiki_wata]

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By the way this is how Ehentai's decentralized part works.

 

[BlackKnight6666]

Just some thoughts.

If you're searching for suggestions on countries to host the site, ask e-hentai and other websites (who only operate on crypto) where their sites are situated/hosted.

They have lasted this long, unlike sites that have had problems (panda? or something I can't remember). As you can see banks and credit cards/payent processors have been doing this for a while so it's not a recent phenomenon. e-hentai has it's own

You must be registered to see the links

where discussions on crypto and news on banks/payment processors. You can possibly ask the site admin for advice directly in a pm.

---

Of course crypto itself is a huge obstacle to overcome for the average person (including myself) who isn't well versed in how to get into it, also I'm very lazy and risk adverse, you can call it being scurred I guess. So it may be just whales contributing to e-hentai.

Also e-hentai are just receiving donations (chill), which is a different ball-game to selling digital products (serious).

crypto should be save enough to not cause problems

the problem crypto has are
1 - a easy way (like revolut: put CC, but crypto in the wallet -> then buy whatever you want) to convert
2 - a RELIABLE way to convert (so people should be trusting to NOT stole CC )

of course point 2 it with the site itself also

 

[taiki_wata]

A site like that has another fundamental problem: the users have to unilaterally trust the site owner. A structure like that creates a great incentive for the owner to just grab the crypto tokens (once accumulated to certain amount) and disappear.

 

[DoAdventures]

A site like that has another fundamental problem: the users have to unilaterally trust the site owner. A structure like that creates a great incentive for the owner to just grab the crypto tokens (once accumulated to certain amount) and disappear.

Very true, it would need to be community led and controlled, it can't just be one person.

 

[BlackKnight6666]

Very true, it would need to be community led and controlled, it can't just be one person.

that's probably the best. a single person with much money can be inclined to jsut take them at some point (life issues etc) even if he doesn't think he can do this now. so yes, something that no single person can take the money away

 

[BlackKnight6666]

ATM i think is important to have more people involved, and maybe people who have done something like this? (like the guy with fresh women? if he wants of course). i hope more people will be interested .
not it's too early to tell.

 

[taiki_wata]

ATM i think is important to have more people involved, and maybe people who have done something like this? (like the guy with fresh women? if he wants of course). i hope more people will be interested .
not it's too early to tell.

Yeah I guess (as someone suggested above) asking if people who run ehentai are interested would be a good start. E-hentai also has been taken BTC donation for years and they didn't disappear, so they got some reputation.

 

[anne O'nymous]

[...] I’ve been seriously thinking about what it would take to create something better — a dedicated, developer-friendly space for adult games.

More, way more, than you think.

When Patreon started its loli/none consensual/bestiality/incest ban, in November 2017, dozens of members said the exact same thing than you and, independently from here, two handful of projects were started to replace Patreon for adult games; from memory, three at least had a crowfunding campaign.
And look now, more than seven years later, the number of projects that became a reality is precisely equal to ZERO.

Even subscribeStar, that built all its reputation and creator/user base over it's acceptance of the four content banned by Patreon, now have them banned by its Terms of Service.


Now, to be perfectly clear, there's already three "dedicated, developer-friendly space for adult games". Patreon, Itch.io and Steam. They host thousands of adult games developer, and the two first never messed with those who aren't stupid enough to voluntarily break their ToS.

 

[Hagatagar]

What you should do first is talk to some legal expert, seriously.
An no, not some dude on F95zone or reddit. Check if this is even a viable option at the moment.

Because don't forgett, you are starting a business here. With income and everything that goes with it. At some point, the authorities will knock on your door and want their share of the pie (income tax and whatever else they demand).
This will not be a donation based system, where the authorties don't care too much about, but the real deal.
And don't think you can do this under the hand for long, as soon as proper money movement is involved the authorities see red.

This has to be a fully legal operation, otherwise all devs could get fucked over too, because their income will will be untaxed income and, again, the authorities get a hate boner for those.

Also be prepered to only be able to do anything with crypto, because every payment processor/credit card company will sooner or later cancel all payment methods because of laws that forces them (the reason why everything is so shit right now). And this will happen as soon as you allow typical morally-not-so-okay stuff, like incest, bestality, rape and especially loli.

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

What you should do first is talk to some legal expert, seriously.

Well... a lawyer just happened to join the server. Probably not his expertise, but it's something.

 

[DoAdventures]

More, way more, than you think.

When Patreon started its loli/none consensual/bestiality/incest ban, in November 2017, dozens of members said the exact same thing than you and, independently from here, two handful of projects were started to replace Patreon for adult games; from memory, three at least had a crowfunding campaign.
And look now, more than seven years later, the number of projects that became a reality is precisely equal to ZERO.

Even subscribeStar, that built all its reputation and creator/user base over it's acceptance of the four content banned by Patreon, now have them banned by its Terms of Service.


Now, to be perfectly clear, there's already three "dedicated, developer-friendly space for adult games". Patreon, Itch.io and Steam. They host thousands of adult games developer, and the two first never messed with those who aren't stupid enough to voluntarily break their ToS.

You make a lot of valid points, there have been a lot of attempts that never got off the ground, and plenty of people understandably get jaded when they hear "we’re going to build an alternative." Most died for one simple reason: they relied on the same fragile infrastructure (payment processors, hosting, US jurisdiction) as the platforms they were trying to replace.

What I’m proposing, or at least starting the conversation around isn’t another Patreon clone. It’s more like a Steam for adult games, where discoverability, ownership, payment flexibility, and developer tools are all designed with our space in mind from day one. A storefront, not a subscription platform. And yeah, that is a big lift. I’m not naive about that.

But if anything, the fact that even SubscribeStar has started tightening up only proves the point: we can’t build on someone else’s rules forever. That’s why I’m not trying to do it solo, I’m just putting out feelers to see if there’s enough shared interest among devs, artists, and supporters to do it together. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t, but it seems worth at least exploring as a community, even if the odds are steep.

Appreciate your input, honestly. It helps sharpen the idea and keeps the conversation grounded in reality.

 

[Hagatagar]

Well... a lawyer just happened to join the server. Probably not his expertise, but it's something.

You mean the discord? Well, apparently he has an interest in this already, so everything he says has to be see with a grain of salt (even the fact that he is a lawyer).

This is a difficult and problematic topic. A proper expert, with full knowlage about this stuff, is needed. And one with no stakes in this.

 

[PlayClaritas]

Steam itself could do something like this. An adult only version of Steam that accepts payment only on crypto and local methods. The main issue of a third party doing a business like this will be getting users, Steam is already massive and could easily funnel their users looking for adult games to the new adult version.

 

[RPDL]

Accepts crypto (BTC, ETH, stablecoins), prepaid adult-friendly cards, and direct card processing via adult-compliant providers like CCBill, SegPay, or Verotel

This won't work because the average person will not learn how to use crypto - it's that simple. Other platforms have tried -

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