Every community relies on infrastructure - roads, power grids, water systems. Public media is no different. We've spent decades building one of the most remarkable content networks in the world: a constellation of local newsrooms, national shows, and independent creators. But it rests on infrastructure built for a different era: satellite distribution, analog assumptions, fragmented digital tools, FM carve-outs, and a thicket of vendor relationships that favor scale and capital over mission.
After indie narrative horror game Horses was banned from Steam two years ago, it put the studio, Santa Ragione, at risk of closure. Studio cofounder and Horses producer Pietro Righi Riva had to make a difficult phone call to the game's director, Italian filmmaker Andrea Lucco Borlera. "I was terrified for him," Riva said in an interview with The Verge. "This was his first game and he put so much work, so much passion, so many years, and it was supposed to be his big breakthrough."
The brick-and-mortar locations that many of us would visit to pick up a new game or simply to wander around and kill some time are increasingly empty, destined for destruction or for uses far removed from what they were before. And as physical media continues to be squeezed out of gaming thanks to the convenience of digital distribution and silly
Over the last few years, the media industry has experienced unprecedented changes. Traditional outlets have downsized, digital platforms have consolidated, and once-stable newsroom and agency jobs have been eliminated in waves of layoffs. From senior executives and editors to sales teams and creative strategists, thousands of professionals who built their careers shaping culture and commerce now find themselves navigating uncertainty.
Valve has now provided that, 'Content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam's payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers, in particular, certain kinds of adult-only content' should not be published on Steam.