It was a slower news week – speculation about Sony leaving the console business (maybe??), Dragon Age is probably not getting any remasters in the near future, there were layoffs because why wouldn’t there be, and Ratatan (the Patapon spiritual successor) has a new release date.

What wasn’t slower was all the news about the payment processors censoring video games. Hint: it’s escalating exactly as we expect.

But this week I’m joined by Zoe Straw who brings along her colleague Betty to discuss everything!

Betty and Zoe also give insights on the game they recently helped release into early access (Aloft), including the user experience and user interface side of things (Betty is a UI/UX designer!), advice for aspiring UI/UX designers, and what “juice” means in the games industry.

CONTENT WARNING: at the 20:35 mark there is a brief mention of suicide, and the payment processor discussion includes darker topics such as sexual assault and child abuse. We also discuss gender reassignment surgery briefly at the beginning of the show (non-explicit).

00:00:00 - Intro and What We’ve Been Playing

00:15:51 - News

00:35:49 - Payment Processor Censorship Update

01:05:10 - Queer Coworkers and Their Insights

01:34:27 - Queer Game of the Week: Disco Elysium

This episode was recorded on August 16 2025.

Sources:

https://x.com/genki_jpn/status/1953483758667170146

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pd9OG3HmN0&ab_channel=MrMattyPlays

https://bsky.app/profile/mikebithell.bsky.social/post/3lvvmqk6r7c2b

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/patapons-delayed-spiritual-successor-ratatan-gets-a-new-early-access-release-date/

https://theintercept.com/2024/08/16/project-2025-russ-vought-porn-ban/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/1mkha72/russ_vought_is_behind_the_latest_push_threatening/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0noIS9lmR0Y

https://transnews.network/p/i-feel-violated-queer-creators-lose-livelihoods-in-itch-io-bans

https://krispycat.itch.io/

https://thisweekinvideogames.com/news/zoom-platform-games-payment-processor-rules-could-lead-to-further-delistings/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7vl57n74pqo

https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/extending-our-built-in-protections-to-more-teens-on-youtube/

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-formally-asked-overturn-landmark-same-sex/story?id=124465302