Visa (V) & Mastercard (MA) Shares Slip as Gamers Retaliate Over Censorship

Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) shares were down on Tuesday as the payment processing companies faced backlash from gamers. A recent push from payment companies has resulted in the removal of several games with adult and mature themes from digital storefronts Steam and Itch.io. This prompted a response from gamers, who have created online petitions and started calling the support lines for Visa and Mastercard to complain about this.

While the changes at Steam and Itch.io initially focused on games with adult content, that has spread to include other titles with mature themes. One example of this is the removal of Mouthwashing from Itch.io’s search results to comply with payment processors’ demands. Mouthwashing is an award-nominated indie horror game that tackles serious subject matter, causing its inclusion in the recent censorship.

Steam directly addressed the issue, saying, “We were recently notified that certain games on Steam may violate the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their related card networks and banks. As a result, we are retiring those games from being sold on the Steam Store, because loss of payment methods would prevent customers from being able to purchase other titles and game content on Steam.”

V and MA Stock Movements Today

Visa and Mastercard shares were both down roughly half a percent on Tuesday. However, V stock remained up 12.25% year-to-date and was up 7.88% over that same period. While it’s possible additional pressure from gamers could harm its services, it’s unclear how significantly it could do so.

Visa vs. Mastercard: Which Stock Do Analysts Prefer?

Using the TipRanks stock comparison tool, traders can see which of the two payment processors analysts favor. Both Visa and Mastercard have Strong Buy ratings and similar price target upsides. The P/E ratios for the two stocks are also comparable.

See more V and MA stock comparisons