Censorship is always a hot button topic when it comes to video games, and that extends to more than just the content that is allowed or not allowed in the games themselves. Popular live streaming site Twitch.tv may not have to deal with Standards and Practices, but the site has instituted its own content restrictions in the past, such as when it created a dress code for streamers that banned “lingerie, swimsuits, pasties, and undergarments.”

The site also made a rule against streaming “adult games” earlier this year, which include any games rated AO (Adults Only) by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). While AO games are automatically off limits, the live streaming site also periodically adds games to a list of specific games that Twitch (or more likely its corporate overlord, Amazon Inc) finds particularly objectionable.

The most recent game added to this list is indie shower sim Rinse and Repeat, and the game’s creator, Robert Yang, was not too happy about it.

“On one hand, it is extremely validating as an artist to be acknowledged as ‘dangerous’ — thanks, Twitch,” Yang wrote in a blog post in response to the ban. “On the other hand, the Twitch policy about sex and nudity is shitty and I’m going to complain about why I hate it and feel it’s unfair, and also really unhealthy for video games as an artform.”

Yang pointed to the specific rule Twitch has regarding nudity, which states:

Sexually explicit acts or content: Nudity can’t be a core focus or feature of the game in question and modded nudity is disallowed in its entirety. Occurrences in game are okay, so long as you do not make them a primary focus of your stream and only spend as much time as needed in the area to progress the game’s story.

According to Yang, this rule is too broad and completely ignores the context of nudity within a game.

“Gamers want so desperately for games to function as art, to witness games about the depth of human experience,” Yang said. “And here is Twitch, a crucial platform in games culture that had 44 percent livestreaming market share in 2014, insisting ‘NO’ — games should only ever snicker about sex and nudity, like some stoned tweens clutching smuggled Hot Pockets in the back of a movie theater.”

Yang stated that he believes Twitch should revise its policy to consider a game’s attitude toward sexuality or nudity rather than banning it outright.

Image courtesy of Robert Yang