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(+4)

The expectation is communication, dude.

"Hey, this is what's happening. Here's where your money is. This is the timeline. We're really sorry, but we just don't have a choice in this. More information to come when we have it."

Do you know what we got? 

"Emoji"

Do you know where our money is? Our livelihood and the next month's mortgage payment? 'In processing'. And if they decide the project doesn't qualify for the store anymore? Let's just say that there's been a history of this group simply 'not having the money anymore'. So don't pretend that this couldn't have gone a different way. And don't pretend that they had to act in a split second to save whatever it is that you think they had to save. They could be making a whole lot by witholding the full payouts from 20,000 nsfw games. Enough to make it worthwhile to nuke their own storefront and retire.

Trust me, I would love better communication as well but we have no idea how it unfolded behind close doors. They are Americian, they might as well got a legal letter and that would limit them greatly in contact (good luck messing with US law). And no one would be stupid enough to hold payment for 20k NSFW games, they are still held liable if they withhold any founds (which means you can sue them) and already informed that they will offer refunds. I am not saying it couldn't gone a different way, what I am saying is that we have no idea if it could even do so, we didn't see any documents or emails they have been sent so we are in this in complete blind, we only know if they wouldn't comply with their policies all devs would go down the drain, not just NSFW ones. They weren't the first to have that issue either. Still get your frustration but I don't want to focus on beating Itch.io over and over when no matter how unprofessional or professional they are, they still had to abide to a decision that wasn't even theirs to make.

(+3)

Unfortunate they have a history of holding funds until sued. Almost all of the most popular games on this site have had to deal with payments in the six figures taking months to 'process' only to be pushed hours after a formal legal proceeding is filed. But is anyone going to sue for $200 bucks? The lawyer and court costs would remove the incentive. And most of these games are sitting at those levels of payouts.

This place is shady AF and has been for a long time. They have a veneer of caring about the industry, but they punish creators that take them up on their offer to take smaller sale cuts (why even offer 0% commission if you're gonna complain that people actually select it?) and conveniently forget to pay vast sums of money if they think they can get away with it. I don't see this as itch being pushed around, I see it as a probable-cause escape. I would love to be proven wrong, of course.