Difference between revisions of "Itch.io"
Cooljeanius (talk | contribs) (use URL template) |
m (add #scratchtheitch irc channel) |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
| URL = https://itch.io/ | | URL = https://itch.io/ | ||
| project_status = {{endangered}} | | project_status = {{endangered}} | ||
| irc = scratchtheitch | |||
}} | }} | ||
Revision as of 17:18, 28 July 2025
| Itch.io | |
| URL | https://itch.io/ |
| Status | Endangered |
| Archiving status | Unknown |
| Archiving type | Unknown |
| IRC channel | #scratchtheitch (on hackint) |
Itch.io is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music.[1]
On 2025-07-24, Itch.io removed thousands of "adult" games from its search listings, and prevented them from receiving payments, after being forced to payment processors, possibly as a prelude to a complete removal. The storefront is reviewing all of its adult games in order to introduce compliance measures laid out by the payment processors. The organization Collective Shout took credit for the move after launching a campaign to remove the game No Mercy, which was controversial due to its depictions of sexual violence.[2] Thousands of game developers and users were affected as they report their games being pulled without notifying, halted payouts and being unable to download games that they previously purchased. Itch.io posted a statement acknowledging the criticism.[3][1]
https://itch.io/t/5121437/list-of-shadowbanned-nsfw-games[IA•Wcite•.today•MemWeb] is a good resource; many shadowbanned games were removed within a day.
Site structure notes
https://github.com/DragoonAethis/itch-dl/ is a third-party downloader for Itch games. Useful endpoints from there:
https://author.itch.io/game/data.json- short JSON with some metadata of the game
There are many types of entities on Itch.io, but the ones we are interested in are in the hierarchy of users>games>channels>builds. Users/games are self-explanatory, e.g. https://nickp1008008.itch.io/fireman is user/game nickp1008008/fireman; channels are arbitrarily-named release channels that get flagged as compatible with certain operating systems if their names contain "win", "mac", etc.[4]. Within channels are individual builds, unclear to me as of yet if these can be accessed.
https://heptad.itch.io/devils-liminal - has an embed, a paid download option (which opens the payment modal), and free download options (which do not)
HTML5 games
A special flag set on a channel by the uploader in the web interface marks it as an HTML5 game. The game maker uploads a ZIP, which is extracted and hosted as a small static site, and embedded in the Itch.io interface via an iframe. Directory listing is disabled for these. I cannot find a way to list the files in one of these uploads that does not require auth - itch-dl and the official Itch desktop client both require it.
Strictly this is a type of "embed", which also includes Flash, Java applets, and Unity[5], however only Flash is listed in the faceted search.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itch.io[IA•Wcite•.today•MemWeb]
- ↑ https://www.gamesradar.com/games/itch-follows-steam-in-conceding-to-scrutiny-from-our-payment-processors-with-a-move-that-affects-thousands-of-nsfw-games/[IA•Wcite•.today•MemWeb]
- ↑ https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/itchio-apologise-for-frustration-and-confusion-after-delisting-thousands-of-nsfw-projects[IA•Wcite•.today•MemWeb]
- ↑ https://itch.io/docs/butler/pushing.html#channel-names[IA•Wcite•.today•MemWeb]
- ↑ https://itch.io/docs/creators/getting-started#content[IA•Wcite•.today•MemWeb]