Itch.io
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| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 2013 |
| Product Type | Digital storefront, Video games, Video game assets and Game Dev tools |
| In Production | Yes |
| Official Website | https://itch.io |
itch.io is a website used to find and share video games made by independent developers online.
Consumer impact summary
User freedom
Business model
- Itch.io relies on "open revenue sharing" which sends to itch.io a percentage of the transaction chosen accordingly by the creator (default 10%).[3][1]
Incidents
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 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." [4][5]
De-indexing of adult games from campaign pressure
On July 11, 2025, Collective Shout issued an open statement demanding credit card payments to immediately cease processing "payments on Steam and itch.io". The reasoning for statement by Collective Shout was because of a game on itch.io called "No Mercy", which featured hardcore NSFW content. [6][7] A few days later, itch.io responded by delisting adult content in search results.[8] On July 31 itch.io re-indexed all free NSFW games but with a new "content warning" tag for games with NSFW in them.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Creator FAQ". Itch.io. Archived from the original on 26 Jul 2025. Retrieved 13 Aug 2025.
- ↑ "Are games from itch.io DRM free?". Reddit. 16 Mar 2018. Archived from the original on 8 Jan 2026. Retrieved 13 Aug 2025.
- ↑ "Introducing open revenue sharing". Tumblr. October 2013. Archived from the original on 8 Jan 2026.
- ↑ ShawnS (31 Jan 2025). "OXENFREE". Delisted Games. Archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025. Retrieved 27 Jun 2025.
- ↑ Colp, Tyler (9 Sep 2024). "Another reminder that your digital library isn't forever: Oxenfree will be completely removed from Itch.io next month". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 23 May 2025. Retrieved 27 Jun 2025.
- ↑ Bita, Natasha (15 July 2025). "Child safety group finds 500 online 'games' role-playing rape and incest". The Australian. Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
- ↑ Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (22 July 2025). "Anti-porn group who tried to ban GTA 5 claim credit for Steam's sex game crackdown". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 22 Jul 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ↑ "Update on NSFW content". Itch.io. 2025-07-24. Archived from the original on 18 Sep 2025.
- ↑ "Reindexing adult NSFW content". Itch.io. 2025-07-31. Archived from the original on 3 Aug 2025.