Consumer Rights Wiki

Itch.io: Difference between revisions

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m Changed the consumer impact summary to more closely resemble that of the Steam page. Added the 'User freedom' section with information about DRM on itch.io.
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* Market Control}}'''User freedom'''
* Market Control}}'''User freedom'''


* Itch.io does not add [[Digital rights management|DRM]] to the games sold on its platform.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Creator FAQ |url=https://itch.io/docs/creators/faq |url-status=live |access-date=13 Aug 2025 |website=Itch.io |at=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Mar 2018 |title=Are games from itch.io DRM free? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/850uea/are_games_from_itchio_drm_free/ |url-status=live |access-date=13 Aug 2025 |website=Reddit}}</ref>
*Itch.io does not add [[Digital rights management|DRM]] to the games sold on its platform.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Creator FAQ |url=https://itch.io/docs/creators/faq |url-status=live |access-date=13 Aug 2025 |website=Itch.io |at=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Mar 2018 |title=Are games from itch.io DRM free? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/850uea/are_games_from_itchio_drm_free/ |url-status=live |access-date=13 Aug 2025 |website=Reddit}}</ref>


'''Business model'''
'''Business model'''
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===Oxenfree incident===
===Oxenfree incident===
On September 9th, 2024, users who purchased Oxenfree on itch.io were warned that the game was going to be pulled from the platform on October 1st. Consumers would not be able to download the installers after this date, so they would lose access unless they had them backed up. Users speculated that [[Netflix]], the parent company of the development studio, had ordered the move; however, no response from Netflix or the developers was ever published. This is particularly notable because it violates itch.io's terms of service: "Users shall retain a license to this content even after the content is removed from the Service." <ref>{{Cite web |last=ShawnS |date=31 Jan 2025 |title=OXENFREE |url=https://delistedgames.com/oxenfree/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250321070400/https://delistedgames.com/oxenfree/ |archive-date=21 Mar 2025 |access-date=27 Jun 2025 |website=Delisted Games}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Colp |first=Tyler |date=9 Sep 2024 |title=Another reminder that your digital library isn't forever: Oxenfree will be completely removed from Itch.io next month |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/another-reminder-that-your-digital-library-isn-t-forever-oxenfree-will-be-completely-removed-from-itch-io-next-month/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250523111125/https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/another-reminder-that-your-digital-library-isn-t-forever-oxenfree-will-be-completely-removed-from-itch-io-next-month/ |archive-date=23 May 2025 |access-date=27 Jun 2025 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref>
On September 9th, 2024, users who purchased "Oxenfree" on itch.io, were warned that the game was going to be pulled from the platform on October 1st and consumers would not be able to download the installers after this date. So they would lose access unless they had a backup of the game. Users speculated that [[Netflix]] (the parent company of the development studio) had ordered the move. However, no response from Netflix or the developers of the game was ever published. This is particularly notable because it violates itch.io's terms of service: "Users shall retain a license to this content even after the content is removed from the Service." <ref>{{Cite web |last=ShawnS |date=31 Jan 2025 |title=OXENFREE |url=https://delistedgames.com/oxenfree/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250321070400/https://delistedgames.com/oxenfree/ |archive-date=21 Mar 2025 |access-date=27 Jun 2025 |website=Delisted Games}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Colp |first=Tyler |date=9 Sep 2024 |title=Another reminder that your digital library isn't forever: Oxenfree will be completely removed from Itch.io next month |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/another-reminder-that-your-digital-library-isn-t-forever-oxenfree-will-be-completely-removed-from-itch-io-next-month/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250523111125/https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/another-reminder-that-your-digital-library-isn-t-forever-oxenfree-will-be-completely-removed-from-itch-io-next-month/ |archive-date=23 May 2025 |access-date=27 Jun 2025 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref>


===De-indexing of adult games from campaign pressure===
===De-indexing of adult games from campaign pressure===
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:Main article: [[Valve allows ISPs and payment processors to censor content on Steam]]
:Main article: [[Valve allows ISPs and payment processors to censor content on Steam]]


On July 11, 2025, [[Collective Shout]] issued an open statement demanding credit card payments to immediately cease processing "payments on [[Steam]] and itch.io".<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Bita |first=Natasha |date=15 July 2025 |title=Child safety group finds 500 online 'games' role-playing rape and incest |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/education/child-safety-group-finds-500-online-games-roleplaying-rape-and-incest/news-story/b30c59f85ff22934844269cb3beff538 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/koDk8 |archive-date=18 July 2025 |access-date=18 July 2025 |work=The Australian}}</ref><ref name="RPSCS">{{Cite news |last=Evans-Thirlwell |first=Edwin |date=22 July 2025 |title=Anti-porn group who tried to ban GTA 5 claim credit for Steam's sex game crackdown |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/anti-porn-group-who-tried-to-ban-gta-5-claim-credit-for-steams-sex-game-crackdown |access-date=23 July 2025 |work=Rock Paper Shotgun}}</ref> A few days later, itch.io responded by delisting adult content in search results.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://itch.io/updates/update-on-nsfw-content|title=Update on NSFW content|website=Itch.io|date=2025-07-24}}</ref> They re-indexed free "adult NSFW content" later on July 31 with new "content warnings" for such games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://itch.io/t/5149036/reindexing-adult-nsfw-content|title=Reindexing adult NSFW content|website=Itch.io|date=2025-07-31}}</ref>
On July 11, 2025, [[Collective Shout]] issued an open statement demanding credit card payments to immediately cease processing "payments on [[Steam]] and [https://itch.io/ itch.io]". The reasoning for statement by [[Collective Shout]] was because of a game on [[itch.io]] called "''No Mercy''", which featured some hardcore NSFW content. <ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Bita |first=Natasha |date=15 July 2025 |title=Child safety group finds 500 online 'games' role-playing rape and incest |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/education/child-safety-group-finds-500-online-games-roleplaying-rape-and-incest/news-story/b30c59f85ff22934844269cb3beff538 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/koDk8 |archive-date=18 July 2025 |access-date=18 July 2025 |work=The Australian}}</ref><ref name="RPSCS">{{Cite news |last=Evans-Thirlwell |first=Edwin |date=22 July 2025 |title=Anti-porn group who tried to ban GTA 5 claim credit for Steam's sex game crackdown |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/anti-porn-group-who-tried-to-ban-gta-5-claim-credit-for-steams-sex-game-crackdown |access-date=23 July 2025 |work=Rock Paper Shotgun}}</ref> A few days later, itch.io responded by delisting adult content in search results.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://itch.io/updates/update-on-nsfw-content|title=Update on NSFW content|website=Itch.io|date=2025-07-24}}</ref> On July 31 itch.io re-indexed all free NSFW games but with a new "content warning" tag for games with NSFW in them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://itch.io/t/5149036/reindexing-adult-nsfw-content|title=Reindexing adult NSFW content|website=Itch.io|date=2025-07-31}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
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