Part 11/14:
Given these developments, it appears that Valve has likely been blacklisted on Mastercard's Match List due to content violations, causing their payments to be blocked in multiple currencies. This blacklisting results in a cascade effect: their payment processors refuse to handle transactions, and users are cut off from purchasing games with PayPal or other methods.
This situation isn't just about technical or business decisions—it exposes the outsized influence of financial institutions in content moderation. While companies like Valve and Steam may implement content changes to stay compliant, their ability to outmaneuver these restrictions is severely limited if they remain on the blacklist.